Thanks for sharing this info, Heather. The proposed fee increases are huge!
I looked at the notice for details.
Currently, they charge $65 for a genealogy index search and $65 to supply a genealogy record, and the new charges would be $240 and $385, respectively. Thus, the cost of a request for one immigration record could go from $130 to $625.
I'm even more alarmed by the huge proposed increases in fees to apply for U.S. citizenship (only the wealthy will be able to qualify!), but these proposed increases for immigration records also are excessive. They say this is to recover their costs, but I can't help but think that the high costs must be due to inefficiency, unnecessary paperwork, and (in the case of applicants for residency and citizenship) government harassment of applicants.