The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that adjusts US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) fees by a weighted average increase of twenty percent. The updated fees are effective October 2, 2020, and any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must include payment of the new, correct fee. Since these fees fund nearly ninety-seven percent of USCIS’ budget, the agency claims the weighted increase is necessary to avoid a budget shortfall of an estimated $1 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy, said. “These overdue adjustments in fees are necessary to efficiently and fairly administer our nation’s lawful immigration system, secure the homeland and protect Americans.”
Read moreUSCIS Resumes Premium Processing for I-129 and I-140 Petitions In Phases Beginning June 1
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that the agency will resume premium processing for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, in phases over the next month. On March 20, USCIS previously announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Read moreDHS: Delays in Filing Extension and Change of Status Petitions Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in response to the immigration-related challenges resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has issued additional information about filing extension and change of status petitions for those who “may unexpectedly remain in the United States beyond their authorized period of stay due to COVID-19.” DHS states that in general nonimmigrants must depart the US before their authorized period of admission expires, but if that is not possible because of reasons related to COVID-19, nonimmigrants should note the following:
Applying for an Extension: DHS first notes that many nonimmigrants can mitigate the immigration consequences of COVID-19 by timely filing an application for extension of stay (EOS) or change of status (COS). US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) is currently accepting and processing applications and petitions, and some forms are available for online filing.
Read moreUSCIS Proposes to Dramatically Increase Filing Fees
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced earlier this month a proposed rule to adjust the fee schedule by a weighted average increase of twenty-one percent. In making the announcement, USCIS noted that unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee-funded and claims the current fees if left unchanged would underfund the agency by approximately $1.3 billion per year. “USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of USCIS, said in a statement. “This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost of their applications and minimizes subsidies from an already over-extended system.”
Read moreUSCIS Increasing Premium Processing Fee
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that beginning December 2, 2019, the agency is increasing the fee to request premium processing for certain employment-based petitions. The premium processing fee will increase to $1,440 (currently set at $1,410) for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. The agency notes that the premium processing fee was last increased in 2018 and that the increase “reflects the full amount of inflation from the implementation of the premium processing fee in June 2001 through August 2019 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U).” Premium processing is requested using Form I-907 and is an optional service for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. Filing a premium processing request with the additional fee will result in a fifteen-calendar day response time. USCIS.gov has additional information about filing cases via premium processing including filing addresses.
USCIS Will Reject I-129 Petitions Without Petitioner’s or Applicant’s Primary US Office Address
Effective August 5, 2019, USCIS will begin rejecting Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, petitions that do not include the petitioner’s or applicant’s name and primary US office address in Part 1 of Form I-129. Currently, USCIS rejects Form I-129 for several reasons which may include lack of signature, incorrect fees, or unauthorized third party signing on behalf of the petitioner. USCIS notes: “DHS regulations require every form to be submitted in accordance with the form instructions, and allow USCIS to reject any benefit request that is not filed in compliance with the regulations governing the specific benefit request.”
Read moreOPINION: USCIS Updates Policy for Adjudicating Nonimmigrant Worker Extension Petitions
For over a decade, filing an extension of nonimmigrant status has been fairly routine in most cases. On Monday, October 23, 2017, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new policy memorandum that instructs its officers to apply the “same level of scrutiny to both initial petitions and extension requests for certain nonimmigrant visa categories.”
Read moreUSCIS: “Changes to Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129 Petitions”
Effective October 12, 2017, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has changed the direct filing addresses for certain petitioners submitting Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Petitioners must now file Form I-129 according to the “state where the company or organization’s primary office is located.” Petitioners previously filed Form I-129 based on where the beneficiary’s temporary employment or training was located. Additionally, petitioners located in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas will now file Form I-129 at the California Service Center.
UCCIS publishes the list of direct filing addresses for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, on their website. Beginning November 11, 2017, USCIS may reject Form I-129s that are filed at the incorrect service center, so it’s recommended to verify (and double-check) the correct address before submitting.
USCIS Proposes to Raise Fees on I-129, I-140, I-90 and Other Applications by an Average of 21 percent This Summer
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed earlier this month to raise certain fees for petitions and applications, and is currently accepting comments for the required sixty-day comment period. USCIS conducts biennial fee reviews, and the latest review indicated that a twenty-one percent average fee increase is necessary to recover operating costs and to maintain “adequate service.” As the money obtained from USCIS filing fees accounted for ninety-four percent of the USCIS budget last fiscal year with the remaining funding coming from other fee accounts and a small Congressional appropriation fund, USCIS estimates a shortfall of $560 million if fees are not raised.
USCIS has “authority to set its IEFA fees at a level that recovers the full cost of providing adjudication and naturalization services. This includes the cost of providing services to asylum applicants or other immigrants without charge and any additional costs associated with the administration of the fees collected.” USCIS last adjusted its fees in November 2010. Some notable fee increases include:
I-129
Currently set at $325, USCIS is proposing to raise the fee for this form, used for such common non-immigrant visa petitions as H-1Bs, L-1s, and O-1s, among others, by over one hundred dollars to $460.
I-140
USCIS wants to raise the fee for this immigrant petition from $580 to $700.
I-90
This application to replace the permanent resident (Green Card) card will go from $365 to $455.
N-400
USCIS proposes to establish a three-level fee tier for this Application for Naturalization, which is very popular these days as people prepare for voting in the upcoming election. First, USCIS wants to increase the standard fee from $595 to $640. Second, DHS would "charge no fee to an applicant who meets the requirements of sections 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) with respect to military service and applicants with approved fee waivers." Third, USCIS would charge a reduced fee of $320 for "applicants with family income greater than 150 percent and not more than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines."
Form I-924A for EB-5 Investor Visa
Rather than a fee increase, USCIS wants to establish a new fee of $3,035 to recover the full cost of processing this form. While approved EB-5 Regional Centers are required to file Form I-924A annually, there is currently no filing fee and as a result, USCIS does not fully recover the processing costs associated with such filings.
What Will Customers Get in Return for These Fee Increases?
The last time USCIS raised fees, they committed to certain goals and performance improvements toward “increasing accountability, providing better customer service, and increasing efficiency.” USCIS claims some improvements since that time but acknowledges that the “agency has experienced elevated processing times” which have led to backlogs; however, they believe that the fee increases this year would increase “resources to fund the personnel needed to improve case processing, reduce backlogs, and achieve processing times that are in line with the commitments in the FY 2007 Fee Rule, which USCIS is still committed to achieving.”
"When USCIS increases filing fees, our hope is that they will use the increased revenue to improve efficiency and reduce processing times," Justin Storch with the Council for Global Immigration tells the Latin Post, reflecting sentiments shared by many immigration practitioners. Public comments for the fees increase are scheduled to close July 5.