USCIS Announced New Filing Fees, to take effect on April 1st, 2024
Couple weeks ago, USCIS published a final rule making adjustment to their filing fees, with the explanation that the current fees fall far short in recovering the full cost of agency operations, including the necessary expansion of humanitarian programs, federally mandated pay raises, additional staffing requirements, and other essential investments. New fees will become effective April 1, 2024.
The USCIS not only adjusted the existing fees, but introduced some new fees and how they are calculated. Once of the new fees introduced is Asylum Program Fee. The reasoning behind this fee is to offset the cost of the government’s humanitarian mission. That fee will be required with I-129 and I-140 Petitions. Bigger employers will need to pay $600, and employers with 25 or fewer employees will pay a reduced fee of $300.
Another change will affect H-1B Petitions. First of all, in order to enroll an employee beneficiary into the annual H-1B cap lottery, an employer needs to register the employee-beneficiary with USCIS, using the online account. Currently the fee is $10, but effective next year (not April 1, 2024) the fee will increase to $215 per beneficiary registration. The regular filing fee for H-1B petitions will increase from $460 to $780. Small employers and not-for-profit employers will be required to pay a reduced fee of $460. New petitions will still require the $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection fee and the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) fee, which is $1,500, or $750 for non-profit employers, educational institution employers and small employers, and the Asylum Program Fee.
All other classifications that require filing the Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker will require new, various fees, depending on classification sought. That is a new approach introduced by USCIS – currently there is one filing fee of $460 for form I-129 without regard to the classification sought. Starting in April different classifications will require different fees, and small or no-for-profit employers will enjoy lower, discounted fees. These new adjusted fees are in the chart below.
Increased Fees for a “Green Card“
There will be also new, increased fees for a family-based permanent residence applications – rising from a total fee of $1,760 to $2,115. Additionally, fees will be required for optional employment authorization (EAD) and travel permit (advance parole). Currently those benefits were included in a total fee paid for the Application to Adjust Status, but now the USCIS will require separate fees for these optional filings, although will offer a 50% discount for Employment Authorization, as compared to regular EAD requests.
Discounted Fees for Filing Electronically
As USCIS allows many applications to be filed online, and for the efficiency reasons want to encourage applicants to utilize the online filings. The new fees for some of the benefits will discount electronic applications by $50. Most common electronic filings include Form I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card; Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization and Form N-400 Application for Naturalization.
Update to Premium Processing Timeframe
The USCIS has also revised its premium processing timeframes from calendar days to business days.
| Current Fee | New Fee Effective April 1, 2024 | |
| H-1B Registration Fee | $10 | $215 |
| Asylum Program Fee for I-129 and I-140 petitions | – | $600 |
| Asylum Program Fee (small employers and nonprofits) | – | $300 |
| I-129 for H-1B | $460 | $780 |
| I-129 for H-1B (small employers and nonprofits) | $460 | $460 |
| I-129 for L-1 | $460 | $1,385 |
| I-129 for L-1 (small employers and nonprofits) | $460 | $695 |
| I-129 for O-1 | $460 | $1,055 |
| I-129 for O-1 (small employers and nonprofits) | $460 | $530 |
| I-129 for E, P, R and TN | $460 | $1,015 |
| I-129 for E, P, R and TN (small employers and nonprofits) | $460 | $510 |
| I-130 Relative Petition (online filing) | $535 | $625 |
| I-130 Relative Petition (paper filing) | $535 | $675 |
| I-485 Permanent Residence Application with I-765 and I-131 (work permit and travel document) | $1,225 | $2,330 |
| N-400 Naturalization (online filing) | $725 | $710 |
| N-400 Naturalization (paper filing) | $725 | $760 |
| I-90 Green Card Renewal (online filing) | $540 | $415 |
| I-90 Green Card Renewal (paper filing) | $540 | $465 |