U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released the final plan to relieve itself from having to process first-time work permit applications by asylum seekers in 30 days.
The new rule is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 21.
In a release, Citizenship and Immigration Services described the 30-day benchmark as burdensome.
The agency said it set the standard for itself decades ago. But asylum applications have gone up dramatically since then. Plus, more fraud and security screening has been added. The change also means a flood of new applications wouldn’t force officials to pull staff from other jobs to work on them.
Citizenship and Immigration Services relies on fees, and applying for this kind of work permit costs nearly $500.
The agency has said it would have to furlough workers, if it doesn’t get $1.2 billion in emergency funding over two years.
