[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 8, Volume 1]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 8CFR244.20]



[Page 490-491]

 

                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY

 

               CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

 

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:



[[Page 491]]



    (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:

    (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]