Read the explanation for the rise in fees. I find this extremely contrary to the current President's way of doing business in America. A few are being charged incredibly high taxes to pay for many others (health care & pretty much everything in gov't & society). This would seem to apply to everything, but for some reason it doesn't apply to embassy service fees. Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of paying what you get for. I actually think the new fees are a great idea and the reasoning even a better one. But it should apply to all of the Fed Gov’t business, not just embassies. Pay for your own healthcare, your own education, your own housing, food, etc.

For those who disagree, why should I have to pay the full fees at my embassy? Why aren’t they subsidized? I live within the very bottom income bracket of my country. Why shouldn’t everyone else be helping me out?

I received the following in an email recently....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Embassy of the United States of America
Nairobi, Kenya
June 30, 2010

  Warden Message

  Effective July 13, 2010, the schedule of fees will be changed to ensure that the Department of State recovers the true costs of consular services through user fees, as required by law.  The proposed changes to our fee schedule reflect more accurately the true expenditure of doing business.   This way, services of direct benefit to individuals, organizations, or groups are paid for by the users rather than by taxpayers in general.

  The following fees will be changed:

  PASSPORT AND CITIZENSHIP SERVICES:

  - The application processing fee for adult passport applications will change from $55 to $70.

  - The passport book security surcharge will change from $20 to $40.

  - The application fee for passport cards will increase, from $20 to $30 for adults, and from $10 to $15 for minors.

  - A new fee of $82 for additional passport pages will be imposed.

  - The fee for file search and verification of U.S. citizenship (generally conducted only by domestic passport agencies) will increase from $60 to $150.

  - The fee for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad will change from $65 to $100.

  - A new fee of $450 is being established for documentation of formal renunciation of U.S. citizenship, which applies only to those persons who choose to take the Oath of Renunciation pursuant to Sec. 349(a)(5) INA.

  OVERSEAS CITIZENS SERVICES:

  - The fee for making arrangements for a deceased non-U.S. citizen is changing from consular time (Item 75 on the Schedule of Fees) plus expenses to $200, plus expenses.

  IMMIGRANT AND SPECIAL VISA SERVICES:

  - The immigrant visa (IV) application fee - which must be collected from all IV applicants who are not fee-exempt – will now be tiered.  The new fees will be $330 for immediate relative and family preference cases (processed on the basis of an I-130, I-600 or I-800 petition), $720 for employment- based cases (processed on the basis of an I-140 petition), and $305 for other cases (special IVs, Diversity Visas (DVs), self-petitioned cases, and all other IVs).

  - The IV security surcharge - which must be collected from all IV applicants who are not fee-exempt - will increase from $45 to $74.

  - The DV fee (which is charged in addition to the application processing fee and security surcharge) will change from $375 to $440.

  - The fee for domestic (NVC) review of affidavits of support is changing from $70 to $88.

  - The fee for determining returning resident status is decreasing from $400 to $380.

  DOCUMENTARY SERVICES:

  - Notarial and authentication services, which now range from $20 to $30, will all be $50.

  JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES:

  - The fee for processing of letters rogatory will increase from $735 to $2,275.

  - Fees for taking depositions and executing commissions to take testimony will change as follows: scheduling/arranging appointments for depositions, from $475 to $1,283; attending or taking depositions or executing commissions to take testimony, from the consular time charge of $265/hour to $309/hour plus expenses; swearing in witnesses for telephone depositions and  supervising telephone depositions, from the consular time charge of $265/hour to $231/hour; providing seal and certification of depositions, from $70 to $415.

  ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES:

  - Consular time charges will decrease from $265 to $231.