The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule today that increases the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Premium Processing fee from $1,225 to $1,410, which becomes effective September 30, 2018. Premium processing service is generally available to many types of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions and requires the immigration service to review a case within 15 calendar days of receipt. Without premium processing, case processing times can vary significantly but generally can be expected to take several months if not years.
The Agency has stated that the fee increase is an adjustment for inflation and that it intends to use the additional revenue (estimated to be $44 million annually) generated from the fee to "provide certain premium-processing services to business customers, and to make infrastructure improvements in the adjudications and customer-service processes." The notice also stated that the objective was for these improvements to reduce disruptions to and suspensions of the availability of premium processing service.
As such, any requests for premium processing service postmarked on or after October 1, 2018 must include the new increased fee of $1,410.