WASHINGTON – The United States could raise the price of immigration-related fees as it battles a budget shortfall spurred by the global financial meltdown, a senior official said Wednesday.

The cash-strapped US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is considering hiking fees, reducing expenditures or seeking help from Congress to address its financial woes, said agency director Alejandro Mayorkas.

"We will, as an agency, potentially have to make cuts, and we will, potentially, have to raise certain fees to meet the financial challenge brought about by a decline in revenue," Mayorkas said.

Immigration-related applications have dropped "markedly" over the past year amid the economic downturn, and are behind the agency's revenue decline, he said.

USCIS was flooded with applications in 2007 ahead of last year's US presidential elections and an increase in citizenship fees from 400 to 675 dollars.

A record 7.7 million immigration applications were registered in 2007.

"People wanted to become naturalized so they could vote," explained USCIS spokesman Bill Wright.

The number of filings dropped after the price hike.

The agency had initially forecast it would collect 2.33 billion dollars in fees for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, but it fell short by 345 million dollars.

Mayorkas insisted the agency's financial travails would not hamper its work, pointing to "improved performance" over the past two years.

"We well understand and are incredibly sensitive to the impact of raising fees for individuals, many of whom cannot afford the cost of pursuing a benefit to which they may be entitled," he added.

The agency chief declined to quantify the fee increase currently being considered as part of a review, although he noted that not all services would necessarily be affected.

Immigration officials have requested 206 million dollars for fee structure reform.

A bill hashed out between both houses of Congress and now awaiting President Barack Obama's signature only funded $55 million of that request.