[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 8, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 8CFR244.20]

[Page 551-552]
 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
CHAPTER I--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
 
PART 244--TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR NATIONALS OF DESIGNATED STATES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 244.20  Waiver of fees.

    (a) Any of the fees prescribed in 8 CFR 103.7(b) which relate to 
applications to the district director or service center director for 
Temporary Protected Status may be waived if the applicant establishes 
that he or she is unable to pay the prescribed fee. The applicant will 
have established his or her inability to pay when the adjudicating 
officer concludes, on the basis of the requisite affidavit and of any 
other information submitted, that it is more probable than not that:
    (1) The applicant's gross income from all sources for the three-
month period prior to the filing of the fee waiver request, including 
income received or earned by any dependent in the United States, was 
equaled or exceeded by essential expenditures for such three-month 
period; and
    (2) The applicant does not own, possess, or control assets 
sufficient to pay the fee without substantial hardship.
    (b) For purposes of this section, essential expenditures are limited 
to reasonable expenditures for rent, utilities, food, transportation to 
and from employment, and any essential extraordinary expenditures, such 
as essential medical expenses, or expenses for clothing, laundry, and 
child care, to the extent that the applicant can show that those 
expenditures made during the three-month period prior to the filing of 
the fee waiver request were reasonable and essential to his or her 
physical well-being or to earning a livelihood.
    (c) For purposes of this section, the TPS registration fee 
(including the fee for employment authorization, if applicable) shall be 
considered an essential expenditure. A fee waiver will be granted if the 
sum of the fees for TPS registration and employment authorization equals 
or exceeds income and assets that remain after deducting other essential 
expenditures.
    (d) If an adjudicating officer is satisfied that an applicant has 
established inability to pay, he or she shall not deny a fee waiver due 
to the cost of administering the TPS program.
    (e) For purposes of this section, the following documentation shall 
be required:
    (1) The applicant seeking a fee waiver must submit an affidavit, 
under penalty of perjury, setting forth information to establish that he 
or she satisfies the requirements of this section. The affidavit shall 
individually list:
    (i) The applicant's monthly gross income from each source for each 
of the three months prior to the filing of the fee waiver request;
    (ii) All assets owned, possessed, or controlled by the applicant or 
by his or her dependents;
    (iii) The applicant's essential monthly expenditures, itemized for 
each of the three months prior to the filing of the fee waiver request, 
including essential extraordinary expenditures; and
    (iv) The applicant's dependents in the United States, his or her 
relationship to those dependents, the dependents' ages, any income 
earned or received by those dependents, and the street address of each 
dependent's place of residence.
    (2) The applicant may also submit other documentation tending to 
substantiate his or her inability to pay.
    (f) If the adjudicating officer concludes based upon the totality of 
their circumstances that the information presented in the affidavit and 
in any other additional documentation is inaccurate or insufficient, the 
adjudicating officer may require that the applicant submit the following 
additional documents prior to the adjudication of a fee waiver:

[[Page 552]]

    (1) The applicant's employment records, pay stubs, W-2 forms, 
letter(s) from employer(s), and proof of filing of a local, state, or 
federal income tax return. The same documents may also be required from 
the applicant's dependents in the United States.
    (2) The applicant's rent receipts, bills for essential utilities 
(for example, gas, electricity, telephone, water), food, medical 
expenses, and receipts for other essential expenditures.
    (3) Documentation to show all assets owned, possessed, or controlled 
by the applicant or by dependents of the applicant.
    (4) Evidence of the applicant's living arrangements in the United 
States (living with relative, living in his or her own house or 
apartment, etc.), and evidence of whether his or her spouse, children, 
or other dependents are residing in his or her household in the United 
States.
    (5) Evidence of the applicant's essential extraordinary expenditures 
or those of his or her dependents residing in the United States.
    (g) The adjudicating officer must consider the totality of the 
information submitted in each case before requiring additional 
information or rendering a final decision.
    (h) All documents submitted by the applicant or required by the 
adjudicating officer in support of a fee waiver request are subject to 
verification by the Service.
    (i) In requiring additional information, the adjudicating officer 
should consider that some applicants may have little or no documentation 
to substantiate their claims. An adjudicating officer may accept other 
evidence, such as an affidavit from a member of the community of good 
moral character, but only if the applicant provides an affidavit stating 
that more direct documentary evidence in unavailable.

[57 FR 34507, Aug. 5, 1992. Redesignated at 62 FR 10367, 10382, Mar. 6, 
1997]