United States: New USCIS Fees to Take Effect April 1, with Significant Increases for Employment-Based Filings

Employers will be subject to the following new fees for common employment-based and related petition and application types:

*On March 21, USCIS issued a Federal Register notice correcting the regulatory definition of “nonprofit” in the January 31 fee rule to add institutions of higher education and not-for-profit primary and secondary schools.

**This is the base I-129 filing fee. Additional ACWIA, antifraud, and/or Border Security fees may apply, depending on the particular filing, as summarized in the USCIS webpage, “H and L Filing Fees for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.”

***With the exception of TPS and EOIR cases, USCIS filings are no longer subject to biometrics fees, effective April 1. The cost of biometrics will now be included in the base filing fee for all USCIS cases requiring biometrics, except TPS and EOIR applicants, who will be subject to a reduced biometrics fee of $30.

****Applicants whose household income does not exceed 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline pay a reduced fee of $380, and certain applicants may be eligible for a fee waiver or exemption.

For the first time, USCIS is imposing different base filing fees for each classification sought on the Form I-129 nonimmigrant worker petition, replacing the uniform $460 Form I-129 filing fee across all temporary worker classifications. The Form I-129 fee change will affect all nonimmigrant classifications sought through the form, including H-1B, H-2A/B, E, L-1, O, P, and TN. The new base Form I-129 filing fee for each classification is set forth in the chart above.

The H-1B petition filing fee increases to $780, from $460, a 70% increase. The L-1 petition filing fee will now be $1,385, up from $460 – a 201% increase. E and TN petitions will see a 121% increase, to $1,015, up from $460. Certain small employers (defined as having 25 or fewer full-time equivalent U.S. employees, including any affiliates or subsidiaries) and nonprofits (defined as 501(c)(3)-tax-exempt entities, government research institutions, institutions of higher education, and not-for-profit primary and secondary schools) will benefit from the following reduced base I-129 filing fees: $460 for H-1B petitions, $695 for L-1 petitions, and $510 for E and TN petitions.

Employers filing a Form I-140 immigrant visa petition will see only a 2% increase in the base filing fee under the new rule – to $715, up from $700 under the current fee schedule.

In addition, as discussed immediately below, a new Asylum Program Fee will further increase the overall cost of filing Forms I-129 and I-140 for most employers.

In a significant revision to the fee schedule, USCIS is adding a new “Asylum Program Fee,” to be paid by employers filing Form I-129 nonimmigrant petitions and Form I-140 immigrant visa petitions, with a reduced fee for small employers and an exemption for qualifying nonprofit organizations. 

The new fee is intended to be used to fund part of the costs of administering the asylum program. According to USCIS, applying the new fee to I-129 and I-140 petitions will mitigate the scope of fee increases for individual applicants and petitioners.

Organizations with more than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) U.S. employees will pay an Asylum Program Fee of $600 for each I-129 and I-140 form. Organizations with 25 or fewer U.S. FTEs (including any affiliates or subsidiaries) will pay a fee of $300. Nonprofit petitioners that are 501(c)(3)-tax-exempt, government research institutions, institutions of higher education, and not-for-profit primary and secondary schools will not be subject to the fee.

Unlike the additional ACWIA, antifraud, and Border Security fees that may apply to certain H and L petitions, the new Asylum Program Fee applies to all I-129 petitions (other than those filed by exempt nonprofits) – regardless of whether the petition is an initial request, an amendment, a first or subsequent extension, or a change of employer or continuation of employment with the same employer.

USCIS will impose a standard filing fee of $1,440 for adjustment of status applications, with a reduced fee of $950 for applicants under the age of 14 who are applying concurrently with a parent. This is lower than the fees originally proposed for adjustment of status cases and reflects a continuation of the agency’s longstanding practice of setting reduced fees for child applicants. The proposed regulation had sought an adjustment filing fee of $1,540 and would have eliminated the fee discount for applicants under 14.

For adjustment of status applications filed on or after April 1, USCIS will also “unbundle” employment authorization document (EAD) and advance parole fees from the adjustment of status filing fee. Under the current fee schedule, the adjustment of status filing fee covers the cost of the adjustment application, as well as associated Form I-765 (EAD) and Form I-131 (advance parole) initial and renewal applications. Under the new fee schedule, however, foreign nationals who file an adjustment application on or after April 1 and who would like an EAD work permit or advance parole travel document must pay an additional fee for each EAD and advance parole application. In a concession to immigration advocates, however, USCIS will charge a reduced fee of $260 for Form I-765 EAD applications filed concurrently with the adjustment application, and for EAD renewals during the pendency of the adjustment. (The regular Form I-765 fee, for EADs not based on an adjustment of status, will be $520, as noted in the fee chart above.) Adjustment of status applicants applying for an advance parole document will pay a fee of $630 for their initial Form I-131 and for all subsequent advance parole renewals; there will be no discount for advance parole applications concurrently filed with adjustment applications or for advance parole renewals during the pendency of the adjustment.

Although the standard filing fees for adjustment of status applications are only increasing from the current total of $1,225 to the new amount of $1,440, when one factors in the additional costs associated with the unbundling of the EAD and advance parole fees, the effective increase in the cost of adjustment of status filings involving EADs and advance paroles is significantly higher. In particular, the cost for an adult to file a concurrent adjustment of status/EAD/advance parole application will increase from the current level of $1,225 to a new total of $2,330 – nearly double the previous fee total.

Importantly, however, adjustment of status applications filed prior to April 1, 2024, are unaffected by these new fees, as the “unbundling” of adjustment-related fees is not retroactive. EAD and advance parole applications that are based on adjustment applications filed prior to April 1, 2024, will therefore continue to be exempt from filing fees. 

Filing fees for certain EB-5 immigrant petitions will also see significant increases under the new rule. The filing fees for Form I-526 & Form I-526E (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur / Standalone and Regional Center Investor) will more than double, from the current rate of $3,675 to a new fee of $11,160. In addition, the filing fee for Form I-829 (Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status) will be raised to $9,525, from the current rate of $3,835 for filers requiring biometrics – a 148% increase.

Under the new fee rule, USCIS will extend the premium processing adjudication period from calendar days to business days – as the agency had previously attempted to do in a now-vacated 2020 fee rule. This change will effectively prolong premium processing adjudications by one week or more, depending on the case type.

In a separate regulation that took effect on February 26, 2024, USCIS increased premium processing fees by just over 12%, with the previous premium processing fee of $2,500 for Form I-140 petitions and most I-129 petitions increasing to $2,805. Although the new premium processing fees took effect on February 26, the new, longer premium processing adjudicatory time frames will apply only to premium processing filings postmarked on or after April 1.

USCIS is significantly increasing the H-1B cap registration fee for cap-subject H-1B petitions – the fee increases to $215 per registration, from $10 under the current fee schedule, a 2050% increase. The agency states that the increase is the result of a review of the cost of administering the H-1B registration system.

The new cap registration fee did not affect this year’s FY 2025 cap registrations, for which the fee remained $10. The higher registration fee will be in place for the FY 2026 cap season, which begins in March 2025, and beyond.

Under the new rule, DHS is incorporating biometrics fees into the main immigration benefit fees for nearly all case types requiring biometrics. USCIS will, however, retain a separate biometrics fee for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applications (Forms I-821), set at $30.

In addition, DHS is introducing a $50 discount for applicants who choose to file online. Online filing is currently available for a limited number of forms, including Forms I-90 (Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card), I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative), I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status), I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization), and N-400 (Application for Naturalization), among others. However, the special discount for online filings does not apply to fees that already benefit from a significant reduction, such as the $260 discounted fee for adjustment-of-status-based EADs, nor does it apply to certain legally mandated fees, such as ACWIA and antifraud fees, or certain other fees, such as the H-1B registration fee, the new Asylum Program fee, and premium processing fees.

On March 19, a lawsuit was filed in Colorado federal district court challenging the legality of the new USCIS fee rule. The suit, brought by the American Immigrant Investor Alliance and IT Service Alliance, alleges that the rule was promulgated without appropriate notice and comment, improperly shifts the costs of asylum adjudications to certain businesses and individuals through the implementation of the new Asylum Program Fee, and unlawfully imposes significant EB-5 fee increases without first completing a fee study that was mandated by Congress in the EB5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. The complaint seeks an injunction to prevent the government from implementing the new fees. It is not known at this time when the court will take up the plaintiffs’ motion to enjoin the implementation of the fee rule.

Other lawsuits challenging the new fee rule may be filed in the coming days. Unless stayed or otherwise enjoined by a court, however, the new fees will take effect on April 1, and those intending to file immigration benefits applications on or after that date should continue to operate on the assumption that the fees will be implemented.

Sponsoring employers should account for the budget impact of increased filing fees. In addition, when planning Form I-129 and Form I-140 filings, employers should take into consideration the longer premium processing timeline.

Employers seeking to qualify for fee reductions and exemptions should be prepared to provide additional documentation to establish their eligibility for the reduced fee or exemption. According to USCIS, petitioners seeking the reduced “small employer” fee may submit the first page of their most recent IRS Form 941 (quarterly federal tax return) showing number of employees, and qualified nonprofits seeking the lower base I-129 filing fee and/or an exemption from the Asylum Program fee may submit a tax exemption letter from the IRS or a copy of a currently valid IRS tax exemption certificate.

In addition, employers and their immigration counsel must be prepared for an array of updated editions of key USCIS application and petition forms. Some forms will benefit from a two-month grace period, from April 1 through June 3, during which USCIS will continue to accept the previous version of the form; however, the new versions of two key employment-based forms – the I-129 and the I-140 – will become mandatory on April 1. Regardless of the form type being filed, there is no grace period for the new filing fees, which are mandatory for all filings postmarked on or after April 1.

Petitioners and applicants wishing to benefit from the current USCIS fee structure and existing forms should work with their Fragomen teams to prepare cases for submission before April 1, where possible.

Fragomen is closely following the implementation of the new fee schedule. Additional client alerts will be issued as developments occur.