USCIS Filing Fee Increase Rule Under Final Federal Review
A final proposed DHS fee regulation that would steeply increase the government filing fees for many immigration benefit filings has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, which is the final stage of review. Implementation dates have not yet been announced. Some of the key elements of the proposed rule are:
Increase and separate fees for H-1B, L-1, and other NIV case types (see below)
H-1B I-129 fee would increase from $460 to $780, L-1 I-129 fee would increase from $460 to $1,385, and TN and E I-129 petitions would increase from $460 to $1,015
H-1B cap registration fee would increase from $10 to $215
Additional $600 “Asylum Program Fee” to be paid by all I-129 and I-140 petitioners
I-140 petition fee to increase from $700 to $715
Increase Premium Processing timeframes to business days instead of calendar days
Un-bundling of Adjustment of Status applications and related benefits. Currently there is one $1,140 fee for the I-485 Adjustment of Status Application, I-765 Application for Employment Authorization Document, and I-131 Application for Travel Document when filed together. The new rule would eliminate the “bundling” of applications under one fee.
Other proposed changes include incorporating biometric fees into the main immigration benefit filing fees, where such fees are required. Separate fees for biometrics would remain for TPS and applications, at $30.
To read the full proposed regulation, click the link below. As of now, it is unclear if these fee increases will be implemented for the Fiscal Year 2025 H-1B registration lottery (March) and H-1B cap petition filing period (April 1-June 30) please keep checking the Immigration Alerts for updates.
