Council of State Archivists Releases Statement on United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Fee Increases

UPDATED POST: December 26, 2019 Fees Could Go Up For Historical Family Records (via NPR)

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From the CoSA Statement

The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) opposes the proposed changes to the fees for accessing the historic public records of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). These changes, outlined in the agency’s proposed rule-making under Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Docket No. USCIS-2019-0010, seek to increase the fee for the agency to search the Master Index of the Genealogy Program from $65 to $240 and the fee to request a record from $65 to $385

CoSA opposes the fee increase and proposes that USCIS instead transfer the records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). At NARA, these records can be managed more efficiently, accessed more freely, and reproduced more economically, as preserving and providing access to historical records of the federal government is one of NARA’s core missions and areas of expertise.

Learn More, Read the Complete Statement (665 words)

See Also: The Genealogy Boom Has Hit a Roadblock. The Trump Administration Plans Huge Fee Hikes for Immigration Record (via Washington Post; December 9, 2019)

See Also: USCIS Proposes to Adjust Fees to Meet Operational Needs (via USCIS; November 8, 2019)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, News