Increased Fees
In February of 2010 a proposed rule was published by the Department of State in the Federal Register indicating a possible increase in consular fees. The increase would include those fees that relate to U.S. passports and passport applications, immigrant visas as well as other services that are provided to U.S. citizens and foreign citizens. The increase in fees is based upon a cost of service study that was completed in the summer of 2009. The demand for passports has now increased to approximately 15 million per year. The increase in fees became effective July 13, 2010. The increased fees are expected to help in covering the cost of actual operating expenses related to the 301 Department of State's consular posts around the world as well as some 23 passport agencies in the United States and other centers which provide consular services. The consular services provided include assistance to American citizens who may be the victims of crime while abroad or citizens who may require evacuation services during natural disasters that occur abroad. This includes those who required services during the earthquake recently in Haiti. The cost to provide such services during the fiscal year of 2009 reached nearly $300 million. New fees include an increase in the amount of $35 for a new passport or for the renewal of a passport, in addition, there will also be a new fee totaling $110 to acquire a passport. Other changes included a $20 increase for a child's passport up to $80. The cost of service study that was completed in June of 2009 was the most exhaustive and detailed study ever conducted by the Department of State. The study provided increased clarity regarding the actual cost related to providing specific services to U.S. and foreign citizens. Consequently, the Department established a tiered fee service category. In some cases, increased fees are now charged for cases that require more extensive processing while in other instances less is charged for cases that are more straightforward and cost less to provide. The Department has indicated that the change in fees is meant to better reflect the actual cost of providing such services.

Not All Fees have Increased
Not all fees have increased. For instance, the fee to determine returning resident status for U.S. lawful permanent residents was decreased by $20 to $380 due to improvements that have been made in automated systems in order to improve that service. At the same time, immigrant visa application process fees for employment based applications experienced an increase from $355 per application to $720. Immediate relative and family preference visa application fees decreased from $355 to $330. The processing fees for all other classes of visa applications decreased from $355 per visa to $305. The fee to conduct file searches by the Department was also raised from $60 to $150. It is possible for applicants to avoid this fee by ensuring they provide adequate citizenship documentation when they apply for passports instead of requesting a file search that can be time-intensive and expensive. Previously, the last update for such fees occurred in 2005. Passport application fees were actually lowered at that time. In February of 2008, passport application fees were slightly increased based on a need to increase passport processing abilities before the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was implemented. At the time, those increases were based only on estimates and did not include actual costs. The study completed in mid-2009 was intended to more accurately include those costs. Further information regarding consular and passport fees can be obtained through the Department of State website at travel.state.gov.