Upcoming USCIS Fees and Form Changes
Gabriela Ungo • September 20, 2020
New USCIS Filing Fees in Effect October 2, 2020, increase fees by a weighted average of 20 percent, adding new fees for certain immigration benefit requests, establishing separate/distinct fees for the various nonimmigrant worker categories and limiting the number of beneficiaries for certain forms.
USCIS published a new rule on August 3rd, 2020, announcing changes to filling fees effective as of October 2, 2020, which will apply to all applications and petitions postmarked on or after that date. It also indicated it will only accept the 10/02/20 version of a list of forms used for certain petitions and applications postmarked on or after October 2, 2020.
Fee Changes: some noteworthy fee changes are:
- Adjustment of Status Applicants: Children under the age of 14 filing for adjustment of status with their parent will no longer be eligible to file Form I-485 with a reduced fee. A standard Form I-485 fee of $1,130 will apply to all applicants. Adjustment applicants will also be required to pay separate fees for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization ($550) and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document ($590) filed in connection with applications for adjustment of status, thus more than doubling the total cost of filing an adjustment of status application package to $2,270;
- Naturalization Applicants: The standard fee for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, increases by 83%, from $640 to $1,170 for paper filings;
It would be particularly important for adjustment of status and naturalization applicants for whom filing fees will increase substantially to ensure that all appropriate applications and petitions are postmarked before
October 2, 2020.
Form Revisions: although USCIS has indicated that it will post the new and revised forms online 30 days before the new rule goes into effect, as of September 18, 2020, only Form I-129MISC has been recently been posted in preview mode to the USCIS website.
- H-1B Petitions: according to the final USCIS Fee Rule, effective October 2, 2020, USCIS will be adopting a new Form I-129 H1, as well as increasing the filing fees associated with H-1B petitions.
- Other form updates: Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker: L Classification (Form I-129L); Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker: O Classification (Form I-129O; Application for Nonimmigrant Worker: E and TN Classification (Form I-129E&TN); Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker: H-3, P, Q, or R Classification (Form I-129MISC); Request for Action on Approved Form I-600/I-600A (Form I-600/I-600A, Supplement 3); Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765).
Significant Change to Premium Processing Time Frame:
although the rule did not change the $1,440 fee for premium processing, it did change the premium processing time frame from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. For purposes of calculating the 15-day premium processing clock, USCIS considers business days as those days on which the federal government is open for business. Business days do not include weekends, federally observed holidays, or the days on which federal government offices are closed (including, but not limited to, closures due to inclement weather or national emergencies).
Importance that all foreign nationals promptly file Form AR-11, Change of Address during Trump Administration 2.0
USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 7 and run through noon Eastern on March 24, 2025.
A Priority Date is essentially your place in line for a Green Card.
The USCIS Final Fee Rule will be effective as of April 1, 2024. It includes an overall weighted average increase of 40% in application fees
USCIS will soon be announcing the opening of the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B Lottery. arch 1, 2024 is expected to be the first day on which USCIS will accepts H1B registrations for the fiscal year 2025 that begins on October 1, 2024.
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released guidance and FAQs on the pilot program to resume domestic visa renewals for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements.
Effective February 26, 2024, premium processing fees will increase from $2,500 to $2,805; from $1,750 to $1,965; and from $1,500 to $1,685
On October 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to modernize and improve the H-1B visa program. DHS will accept public comments until December 22, 2023.
Limited to principal H-1B applicants, the stateside visa renewal pilot program is expected to kick off early 2024, and will be available to nationals of countries that are not subject to visa reciprocity fees, such as India.
USCIS to increase the maximum validity period to 5 years for initial and renewal Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain noncitizens