2021-00644. Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection: Request for Reduced Fee

AGENCY:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION:

30-Day notice.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES:

Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until February 16, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated response time, must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal website at http://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket ID number USCIS-2018-0002. All submissions received must include the OMB Control Number 1615-0133 the body of the letter, the agency name and Docket ID USCIS-2018-0002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Telephone number [phone] (This is not a toll-free number; comments are not accepted via telephone message.). Please note contact information provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status Online, available at the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov,, or call the USCIS Contact Center at [phone]; TTY [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On November 14, 2019, DHS published the proposed rule, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements,” in the Federal Register proposing to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). See 84 FR 62280. That rule proposed to eliminate this information collection. On August 3, 2020, DHS published the final rule making the changes effective on October 2, 2020. 85 FR 46788 (Aug. 3, 2020) (final rule). Form I-942 was eliminated in the final rule.

On September 29, 2020, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted a motion for a preliminary injunction and a stay of the effective date of the final rule in its entirety. Immigrant Legal Resource Center v. Wolf, No. 4:20-cv-5883 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2020). On October 8, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia also granted a motion for a preliminary injunction of the final rule. See Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, et al., v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al. (No. 19-3283 (RDM) (D.D.C., Oct. 8, 2020). Therefore, DHS is enjoined from implementing or enforcing the final rule in its entirety pending final adjudication of the two cases.

USCIS is publishing this notice in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act as required to extend the approval to use Form I-942 while the final rule is enjoined.

Comments

The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2020, at 85 FR 68909, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS did receive two comments in connection with the 60-day notice.

You may access the information collection instrument with instructions, or additional information by visiting the Federal eRulemaking Portal site at: http://www.regulations.gov and enter USCIS-2018-0002 in the search box. The comments submitted to USCIS via this method are visible to the Office of Management and Budget and comply with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.12(c). All submissions will be posted, without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov,, and will include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For additional information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is available via the link in the footer of http://www.regulations.gov.

Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies should address one or more of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection Request: Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: Request for Reduced Fee.

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the DHS sponsoring the collection: I-942; USCIS.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: Individuals or households. USCIS uses the data collected on this form to verify that the applicant is eligible for a reduced fee for the immigration benefit being requested.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: The estimated total number of respondents for the information collection I-942 is 4,491 and the estimated hour burden per response is 0.75 hour.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated with this collection is 3,368 hours.

(7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated with this collection of information is $19,087.

Dated: January 8, 2021.

Samantha L Deshommes,

Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.