WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cross-border truckers in need of a US waiver to enter the States, will have to pony up more for the paperwork to be processed come the end of the month.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a new fee schedule, which will take effect on July 30. Applications or petitions postmarked, or otherwise filed on or after that date must include the new fee.

Under the new schedule, application and petition fees will increase by an average of 66%. The US Entry Waiver will about double in cost, up to US$545.

Waivers are issued by the US Department of Homeland Security and anyone with a criminal conviction, or who has been denied entry to the US because of a criminal record, is required to obtain a waiver to gain entry into the country, whether for business or leisure.

USCIS last updated its fees on October 26, 2005, based solely on inflationary increases. Early in 2006, the agency completed its first comprehensive fee review in more than 10 years and found current fee revenues were insufficient to recover full operating costs.

Based on that review, USCIS published a proposed fee structure in the Federal Register on Feb. 1 seeking comments from the public. The new fee schedule was released last month following a comprehensive review of nearly 4,000 public comments.

For more information concerning the final fee rule, visit USCIS’ Web site at www.uscis.gov/21stCenturyService.

— with files from Canadian Press