USCIS is increasing Filing Fees
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that, effective November 23, 2010, it will be raising its filing fees by a weighted average of 10 percent, adding several new fees, and adjusting the premium processing fee according to the rate of inflation. The reason given by USCIS: according to a comprehensive study, its current fees do not recover the full costs of services provided. As background, 90% of the USCIS budget comes from immigration filing fees, and USCIS is required by law to conduct a fee review every two years to ensure that income levels are meeting administration costs for immigration programs. These increases are a result of the most recent review, which was started in 2009.
Fee changes for the most common employment-based form types include the following:
|
Form |
Previous Fee |
New Fee | |
I-129 (H, L, TN, etc.) |
$320 |
$325 | |
I-131 (Advance Parole) |
$305 |
$360 | |
I-140 (Immigrant Visa Petition) |
$475 |
$580 | |
I-485 (Adjustment of Status, including biometrics) |
$1010 |
$1070 | |
I-539 (H-4, L-2, B-1, etc.) |
$300 |
$290 | |
I-765 (EAD cards) |
$340 |
$380 | |
I-907 (premium processing) |
$1000 |
$1225 |
To view the Federal Register announcement, as well as a complete list of fee changes, click here. Any application or petition that is postmarked on or after November 23 must contain the new filing fee(s). |
