In November of 2019, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) proposed a nearly 500% increase in the fee for records searches and records provided by it’s Genealogy Program.

Under the proposed fee increase the cost of a records search would go from $65 to $240, while the cost for copies of a record would increase from $65 to $385. If this fee increase goes into effect the cost of obtaining a single record would be $625 – more than a decent 65″ flatscreen TV.

For many genealogy enthusiasts this cost increase would effectively halt their ability to utilize the USCIS records as the cost would simply be too extravagant for one record, much less the many records that the average genealogist would want to search.

You can read more about this proposed hike on the Board for Certification of Genealogists blog.