New USCIS Filing Fees Effective April 1, 2024
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a final rule to increase USCIS filing fees for most petitions and applications, following last year’s proposed rule, which we previously reported. The new fees will go into effect on April 1, 2024.
Ultimately, while not all fee increases are as steep as initially proposed, the final rule still substantially increases filing fees on common petitions, including:
|
Immigration Benefit Request |
Current Fee |
New Fee |
Difference (Dollar Amount and Percentage) |
|
I-129 Petition for H-1 |
$460 |
$780 |
$320 (70%) |
|
I-129 Petition for L-1 Nonimmigrant Workers |
$460 |
$1,385 |
$925 (201%) |
|
I-129 Petition for O-1 Nonimmigrant Workers |
$460 |
$1,055 |
$595 (129%) |
|
I-129 Petition for E-3, H-3, P, Q, R, or TN Nonimmigrant Workers |
$460 |
$1,015 |
$555 (121%) |
|
I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status |
$370 |
$470 |
$100 (27%) |
|
I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers |
$700 |
$715 |
$15 (2%) |
|
I-765 Application for Employment Authorization |
$410 |
$520 |
$110 (27%) |
|
I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (with biometrics) |
$1,225 |
$1,440 |
$300 (26%) |
|
I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (under the age of 14 in certain conditions) |
$750 |
$950 |
$200 (27%) |
|
H-1B Registration |
$10 |
$215 |
$205 (2050%) |
Key aspects of the new fee schedule are:
- The new fees will apply to petitions/applications filed on or after April 1, 2024; therefore, the new H-1B registration fee will not be in place for this year’s H-1B lottery in March and this year’s registration fee will remain $10 per person.
- USCIS is also introducing a new $600 Asylum Program fee, to be paid by employers with more than 25 employees who file either a Form I-129, Form I–129CW, or Form I-140 (on top of the base filing fee). Businesses with 25 or fewer employees will pay a $300 Asylum Program Fee instead of the $600 fee, and nonprofits will pay no Asylum Program Fee. The Asylum Program Fee is meant to help cover the costs of asylum adjudications. This fee should also help free up resources that have been diverted from employment-based adjudications to asylum adjudications. The fee will apply to each petition filed.
- Small employers with fewer than 25 employees or nonprofits may be entitled to reduced filing fees.
- USCIS is introducing slight fee reductions ($50 or less) for filing applicable petitions online instead of in paper form, so far only for certain standalone Forms I-90, I-539, I-765, I-130 or N-400.
- This rule also extends Premium Processing time from calendar days to business days. So, for example, a Premium Processing on an I-129 will increase from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. This is separate from the previously announced increases to Premium Processing fees, to become effective February 26, 2024.
More information can be found in the USCIS announcement.
