Why did USCIS increase its fees?

On April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) new fees and editions of certain forms went into effect. According to the USCIS, higher fees are needed to cover the cost of doing business and better avoid the accumulation of future backlogs as 96% of agency funding is derived from filing fees, and not from taxpayers in the form of congressional appropriations, despite the agency receiving $275 million from congress, specifically to reduce current backlogs and advance its humanitarian mission in fiscal year 2022. Further appropriations of $133 million in fiscal year 2023 and $145 million in fiscal year 2024 were provided to support Refugee and Asylum activities.

According to USCIS, immigration filings decreased dramatically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and USCIS revenue temporarily dropped by 40%. A hiring freeze and workforce attrition reduced the agency’s capacity to complete cases, even as incoming caseloads rebounded to pre-COVID levels.

What has changed?

PREMIUM PROCESSING

Starting February 26, 2024, USCIS has increased the premium processing fees (see below) and it changed the time periods for guaranteed adjudicative action on expedited processing requests to business days (as opposed to its previous use of calendar days): 15 business days for most classifications; 30 business days for Form I-765 for F-1 students seeking OPT or STEM OPT extensions; 30 business days for Form I-539 applicants requesting a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 nonimmigrant status, once all prerequisites, including receipt of biometrics, have been met; 45 business days for Form I-140 E13 multinational executive and manager and Form I-140 E21 national interest waiver classifications.

• Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker: $1,685 (H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status); $2,805 (All other available Form I-129 classifications (E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, TN-1, and TN-2))

• Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker: $2,805 (Employment-based (EB) classifications E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW))

• Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status: $1,965 (Form I-539 classifications F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, J-2, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-2, H-4, O-3, P-4, and R-2)

• Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization: $1,685 (Certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, C03C)

ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS

Starting April 1, 2024, if you are filing for adjustment of status and want to apply for a travel document and/or employment authorization, you will have to pay a separate filing fee for each form even if you file all three forms together. You must submit a separate payment for each fee. See the USCIS Filing Fees page for further instruction on how to pay fees.

NEW ASYLUM FEE

Effective April 1, 2024, if you are an employer filing a Form I-129 or Form I-140, the form fee itself may not represent your total filing costs. Check for additional fees. For example, the new Asylum Program Fee will cost an additional $600 for employers or $300 for companies with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. There is no Asylum Program Fee for nonprofits. You can also go to USCIS’ Fee Calculator to see what fees you must pay.

Do I need to use new editions of the forms?

As of April 1, USCIS will accept only the 04/01/24 edition of the five forms listed below. There is no grace period, and USCIS will reject your form if you file an old edition of the form.

• Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker

• Form I-129CW, Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker

• Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers

• Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition (and Supplements 1, 2, and 3)

• Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative (and Supplements 1, 2, and 3)

For most other forms, USCIS will accept both previous and new editions filed with the correct fee during a grace period from April 1 to June 3, 2024.

What happens if my application is rejected because of incorrect filing fees?

Having your form rejected could impact your immigration status. In some situations, you will not be able to refile, which could affect whether you can remain or work legally in the United States.

I mailed my application to USCIS before April 1st with the correct filing fees and the current edition at that time, but my application was still rejected. What can I do?

If USCIS rejects your form and you have documented proof that you submitted the correct edition of the form on time with the correct fees, you can try to resolve the issue with USCIS. Go to the “Inquiries Based on Filing Location” section of USCIS’ Contact Us page for information. If you still cannot resolve the issue, you may submit a case assistance request to our office to see if we can help. Make sure to include copies of the rejection notice and the submitted form with the shipping label and delivery confirmation.

Is there any good news?

Yes. Some popular forms will have lower fees starting on April 1 if you file online and must submit biometrics, such as: Form N-400, Application for Naturalization; and Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) (the fees will be lower whether you must submit biometrics or not).

Naturalization applicants who have incomes between 150% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines will pay $380, which is half the full fee. However, they must file a paper application to obtain the fee reduction. Applicants from vulnerable populations such as trafficking/crime/domestic violence victims, refugees, and those belonging to special categories such as current and former military service members, Afghan and and Iraqi Special Immigrants, Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJ) are exempt from filing fees.

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