The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has proposed increasing and adding certain immigration and naturalization filing fees imposed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). At present, the 60-day period has been opened for public comments and will close on March 30, 2023. Any fee increases will take effect after that date.
Historically, USCIS generates approximately 96% of its funding from filing fees submitted with immigrant and non-immigrant petitions or applications. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing staff shortages created significant delays in processing immigration filings. DHS now highlights the importance of its fee proposal in order to address expanded humanitarian programs, higher demand, increased processing times, and the need for more USCIS employees.
DHS is not only proposing increasing fees but also setting new fees for certain benefit requests, establishing distinct fees for petitions for nonimmigrant workers, and limiting the number of beneficiaries on certain forms. According to DHS, without these adjustments, USCIS will have insufficient resources to provide adequate service to applicants and petitioners and will be unable to reduce its substantial backlog. In June 2022, the DHS-USCIS backlog had reached nearly 8.8 million cases.
Some highlights from the proposed rule include the following prospective fee increases:
Case Type | Current Fees | Proposed Fees |
H-1 B Registration | $10 | $250 |
H-1B Basic Filing | $460 | $780 |
L-1 | $460 | $1385 |
O-1 | $460 | $1055 |
TN, E, P | $460 | $1015 |
Adjustment of Status (“AOS”) Including employment and travel authorization request | $1225 | $2820 |
Family-based petitions (Form I-130) | $535 | $820 |
Petition to Remove Condition on Residence | $780 | $1195 |
Employment-based petitions | $700 | $715 |
Our team continues to closely monitor DHS-USCIS updates that impact our clients’ filings and overall immigration planning.
Comments