You can also ask someone else to vouch for you and get an account whitelisted from paying the fee. I dont know if there is an official way to do it or someone specific you should contact though. Its been a while and I wasnt sober so please dont ask me for details I dont remember myself.
most moderators can whitelist user accounts
"most"
-snip-
Any staff member can whitelist, a couple users as well though I don't want to name them so they get drowned in whitelist requests.
I'll whitelist on request for solid members, or if one vouches, most others will as well. There's no particular rules for it, as long as the whitelisted person doesn't immediately start posting garbage.