Ins May Raise Fees For Foreign Adoption

The Immigration and Naturalization Service plans to raise fees for foreign adoption by more than 160 percent, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from officials of U.S. adoption agencies, who say the increase is unfair and unjustified.

The immigration service wants to raise fees for 22 types of applications and petitions, but the increase for adoptions, to $530 from $235, is by far the highest.

Visa and other fees paid to the State Department bring the total bill to nearly $1,000. That is in addition to the average $13,000 to $20,000 paid to adoption agencies and foreign countries.

The public comment period for the new fees ends Friday, and they could be put in place in several months.