In a few months, a lot of changes in terms of immigration cost in the United States are expected to take place. By September, the cost of acquiring a US Green Card will be hiked. It is going to be around 10 percent more. The changes to the cost are yet to be confirmed. If reports are to be believed the cost will be raised from 930 dollars to 985 dollars.

Along with the changes in the cost of Green Card, the US immigration system is going to bring a few other changes as well. Some of them include a hike in cost for the applications for temporary residence. This fee is likely to rise by 420 dollars to 1,030 dollars; as well as changes to investors’ visas. Currently, the visa category does not require fee, but with the implementation of the changes, it would be subjected to a new fee of 6,230 dollars.

Ninety percent of the annual budget of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Department comes from this fee paid by applicants and petitioners. The government department reviews its fee structure in every 2 years in order to determine if the fees are sufficient to recover the costs. According to reports, USCIS’ fee revenue for the fiscal years 2008 and 2009 was not that satisfactory. This year also the revenue is expected to follow the same trend.

It is confirmed by the immigration department that it will not raise the fee for the US citizenship applications, which already got a boost of sixty-nine percent in the year 2007. The charge is likely to remain 595 dollars per application. USCIS has also made changes to the fees for non-immigration US visas in the beginning of 2010, when it implemented a tiered structure.