USCIS Filing Fees to Increase Effective December 23

Effective December 23, 2016, the filing fees for many USCIS petitions and applications will increase, according to a final regulation that was published by the Federal Register in October.  This planned increased has been under review for the last few years and is the first fee increase since 2010. 

The filing fees are increasing by an average of 21% across petitions to accommodate the cost of services provided by the agency. 

IMPACT:

Petitions received on or after December 23 must reflect the new filing fees. When submitting petitions and applications, review the USCIS fee website to confirm the filing fee is correct filing fee. 

Notable increases include, but are not limited to:

fee increases.jpg

Source:  Fragomen Worldwide | Source

What Impact Will this Have?

Applications received by USCIS on or after December 23 must reflect the new filing fees. When submitting petitions and applications directly to USCIS, review the USCIS fee website to confirm that you are sending the correct filing fee. The relevant portions of the OIA website have been updated to reflect this information

What if my petition will be pending on December 23?

USCIS has stated that only applications received on or after December 23 require the new filing fee.  If your application is received before December 23 and is pending after the new fees go into effect, your application will not be impacted.

Will this impact applications processed by OIA?

No. This fee increase is strictly for applications that you send to USCIS directly (such as OPT, Adjustment of Status, H-1B, etc).  It has no impact applications processed by OIA (such as CPT) or applications processed by other agencies (such as applying for a driver’s licenses).    

Is this related to the recent U.S. Presidential election?

No. This fee increase has been under review for several months and has been anticipated for the last few years. The regulation was approved in mid-October to account for the cost of processing petitions and is not connected to the U.S. presidential election.