On January 8, 2024, a regulation that would increase filing fees across a wide range of immigration benefit petitions and applications progressed toward implementation, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) submitted it for federal review. DHS proposed the rule in January 2023 and accepted public comments until March 2023. According to DHS’s regulatory agenda, the final rule will be published in April 2024, but could be published sooner and potentially ahead of the FY2025 H-1B Registration window opening in March 2024. While the specific contents of the final rule cannot be known until it is published, the proposed rule provides a good indication of the changes that will be implemented.
The proposed rule increases filing fees for a wide array of petitions and applications, significantly increasing fees for many employment-based petitions, applications, and related filings. Most notably, these changes include the following:
The H-1B cap registration fee will increase from $10 to $215;
I-129 filing fees will vary by visa classification and increase as follows:
H-1B petitions - from $460 to $780;
L-1 petitions - from $460 to $1,385;
O-1 petitions - from $460 to $1,055;
TN, E, and other petitions - from $460 to $1,015;
The filing fees for EB-5 petitions for standalone investors (I-526) and for regional center investors (I-526E) will increase from $3,675 to $11,160; for investors to remove conditions on residence (I-829), the filing fee will increase from $3,750 to $9,525.
In addition, the proposed rule includes the following changes/additional filing fees:
A $600 “Asylum Program Fee” will be imposed on all I-129 and I-140 petitions, on top of the increased base filing fee;
Premium processing will take longer, as the adjudication period will be measured in 15 business days rather than calendar days;
Biometrics fees will be incorporated into main fees for nearly all case types where applicable, though will remain a separate fee for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applications;
DHS will require separate fees for adjustment of status (I-485), employment authorization (I-765), and advance parole (I-131) applications, even when the applications are filed concurrently; and
Where online filing is permissible, the online filing fee will be lower than the paper filing fee.
A full list of the anticipated fee changes can be found here. We will provide an update when the final rule and its effective date are published.
Please note that the above is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For specific questions about how the anticipated filing fee increases may apply to your circumstances, please contact your team at D&S.