The State Department announcement I received in my
inbox late last week looked promising – “Fees decreased” was what caught my
eye. A quick glance through the Federal
Register confirmed that the fee for E-1, E-2 and E-3 applications, were being
reduced to $205, down from $270.
Fortunately, fees for H-1B applications along with L-1s were not
increased (how much higher could they go at this point?). This is great news for all those E-3
applicants out there. The State
Department made a point of saying that the new reduced fee was a reflection of
the “actual cost of services”. (Which
doesn’t exactly make sense to me due to the large disparity in the time spent
by a consular officer in the review of documents for an E-1 or E-2 application
compared with the amount of time spent on an E-3 application.)
The bad news came for all those would-be renouncers
of their U.S. citizenship. The new fee
is a whopping 422% higher than it is now, a jump from $450 to $2,350. This can not possibly be reflective of the
“actual cost of services”. An
application for renouncement is not very document intensive. The process consists of two short in-person
interviews (and sometimes the first interview is over the phone) and a couple
of forms. Unless you have an enormous portfolio and there are serious exit tax
issues, very few supporting documents are required. The State Department notes that the large increase in the filing fee is
justified as the demand for the renunciation requests has ballooned and they
need additional staff to process the applications. According to a February 2014
post in the International Tax Blog, a record 2,999 people renounced their US
citizenship in 2013, a 221% increase over the 2012 figure. However, a total of 3,000 applicants
worldwide does not seem to justify this high fee, in my opinion. In contrast, 3,946 E-3 visas were issued in
2013, yet the fee is around 10% of the cost of a renouncement application.
I find it interesting to note the filing fees for
renouncing citizenship in other high-income countries:
Australia - $265
United Kingdom - $240
New Zealand - $335
New Zealand - $335
Canada - $90
Anyone making applications for the visa categories mentioned on or after September 6, 2014 need to remit the correct fee
amounts.
For
individuals who seek to travel to the US, it is strongly recommended to contact
a qualified US Immigration Lawyer to discuss your visa options.
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