This comment period has closed. Click here respond to the latest notice of proposed fee waiver rule change.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is attempting to transform the fee waiver application process by making it more difficult for individuals to obtain fee waivers when seeking immigration relief. On September 28, 2018, it issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to drastically change the process to request a fee waiver. Most notably, the proposal would remove receipt of means-tested benefits as a basis for qualifying for the fee waiver and require exclusive use of the Form I-912 for fee waiver requests. These proposed changes would deny access to relief for deserving immigrants and, as with the proposed changes to public charge, are one more example of this administration's favoring the wealthy over working class people, low-wage workers, and vulnerable populations who make immeasurable contributions to our communities and our economy.
We urge your agency to submit comments detailing your opposition to the proposed changes. The comment period closes Tuesday, November 27th. The ILRC has created a draft template comment that focuses on the impact of this proposed rule on the immigrant community and immigration service providers.
Please use the template comment as a starting point, but we strongly encourage you to include your agency’s unique perspective about the detrimental effect of these proposed changes when submitting your agency’s comment. The goal is to maximize the number of unique comments to have the greatest impact.