In this blog post, attorney Jacob Sapochnick talks about a brand-new proposal to increase the government filing fees for certain types of immigration benefits filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Following the announcement, on January 4, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register outlining the proposed fee schedule which seeks to increase the filing fees of certain nonimmigrant visa classifications, as well as adjustment of status (green card) applications.
The government will be accepting public comments for the proposed rule until March 6, 2023. After the comment period has closed, the agency will review the public comments and issue a final version of the rule.
TIP: If you know that you will be applying for an immigration benefit that is subject to the proposed fee increase, you should apply as soon as possible to avoid incurring the higher fee.
Want to know more? Just keep on watching.
Overview
Who is the most heavily impacted?
The proposed fee increase heavily impacts employment-based applications, such as H-1B visas, O-1 visas, TN Visas, and EB-5 immigrant investor visas.
With respect to adjustment of status for family members, there are also major increases for parents applying for green cards along with children under 14 years of age. At the moment, children are subject to a reduced filing fee. However, under the new proposed rule, children would no longer enjoy the reduced fee and would be subject to the same filing fee as adults applying for adjustment of status. Accordingly, for large families filing for adjustment of status, the process will be much more expensive than before.
Here are some of the proposed fee increases that may impact you
- N-400 Application for Naturalization
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- 19% proposed increase from $640 to $760 ($120 price difference)
- I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancé(e)
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- 35% proposed increase from $535 to $720 ($185 price difference)
- I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (online filing)
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- 33% proposed increase from $535 to $710 ($175 price difference)
- I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (paper filing)
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- 53% proposed increase from $535 to $820 ($285 price difference)
- I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (online filing)
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- 35% proposed increase from $410 to $555 ($145 price difference)
- I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (paper filing)
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- 59% proposed increase from $410 to $650 ($240 price difference)
- I-765 Application for Employment Authorization (paper with biometric services)
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- 31% proposed increase from $495 to $650 ($155 price difference)
- I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residence (with biometric services)
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- 76% proposed increase from $680 to $1,195 ($515 price difference)
- H-1B Pre-Registration Fee
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- 2050% proposed increase from $10 to $215 ($205 price difference)
- I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker: H-1 Classifications
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- 70% proposed increase from $460 to $780 ($320 price difference)
- EB-5 I-526 Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor
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- 204% proposed increase from $3,675 to $11,160 ($7,485 price difference)
- EB-5 I-526E Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor
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- 204% proposed increase from $3,675 to $11,160 ($7,485 price difference)
In summary, USCIS is relying on the fee increases to adequately fund the agency and hire more personnel to adjudicate immigration benefit requests in a timely manner to eliminate the visa backlogs.
Why is this happening now?
The proposed fee increase is the result of a comprehensive fee review conducted by USCIS every two years. That review determined that the agency’s current fees, which have remained the same since 2016, fall short of funding the full cost of the agency’s operations.
Due to the pandemic, the agency’s biennial review was completed later than expected, but it was determined that revisions needed to be made to ensure the agency can adjudicate applications on a timely basis as its workload returns to pre-pandemic levels.
When will the fee increases be implemented?
USCIS must follow the procedural rules of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) before the rule can be implemented. The agency must allow for a 60-day comment period after publication of the rule. Once the 60-day comment period has concluded, USCIS will review public comments and either modify or withdraw the rule.
If and when modifications have been made, the final rule will be published in the Federal Register within 30 days and indicate when the final rule will be implemented (this is typically 30 days after the date of publication).
For a complete list of the proposed filing fee increases please see the NPRM Table 1: Comparison of Current and Proposed Fees beginning on page 18.
As always, we will be carefully monitoring the status of the proposed rule. Once the final rule has been published in the Federal Register, we will provide further updates on our blog.
Questions? If you would like to schedule a consultation, please text 619-483-4549 or call 619-819-9204.
Helpful Links
- USCIS Issues Proposed Rule to Adjust Certain Immigration and Naturalization Fees
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements NPRM
- January Visa Bulletin
- Important Announcement on Waivers of the Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas
- Immigrant Visa Backlog Report
- DOS Visa Services Operating Status Update
- ImmigrationLawyerBlog
- ImmigrationU Membership
- Success stories
- Youtube channel
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