USCIS Set to Increase Filing Fees Significantly
In back-to-back final rules published on Dec. 28, 2023, and Jan. 31, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced significant fee increases for premium processing requests and immigration benefit requests, respectively.
Requests for premium processing that are postmarked or filed on or after Feb. 26, 2024, will be subject to the following fee increases:
Applications and petitions for immigration benefits postmarked or filed on or after April 1, 2024, must include the following filing fees:
USCIS announced that submissions for certain immigration benefits will have different fees for paper versus online filings, including the following:
Additional Fee Changes
Beginning fiscal year 2025, the H-1B cap registration fee will increase from $10 per registration to $215. Please note that the increase will not impact submissions in the H-1B cap lottery this year.
In addition to increasing filing fees based on the type of immigration benefit requested, the Jan. 31, 2024, final rule also:
- incorporates an "Asylum Program Fee" of $600 for petitioners filing Forms I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
- unbundles the I-765 Application for Employment Authorization and I-131, Application for Travel Document fees from the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status fee. This means that fees for Forms I-131 and I-765 will no longer be included in the filing fee for Form I-485 when filed concurrently. The I-131 and I-765 filing fees must now be paid separately.
- extends the premium processing adjudication period from calendar days to business days
For additional information, please contact the authors or a member of Holland & Knight's Immigration, Nationality and Consular Team.
Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.