On Jan. 31, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule on USCIS Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements in the Federal Register. The Final Rule goes into effect on Apr. 1, 2024. This article provides a summary of high-level changes. The rule is expansive, and this summary intends to highlight key changes that will likely impact our affiliates and their clients. CLINIC also published a practice advisory, Top 10 Practice Tips to Prepare Your Program for New USCIS Fee Schedule Changes, and you can watch CLINIC’s webinar on USCIS Fee Changes - How to Prepare Your Program. Practitioners should review the Final Rule and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) FAQs on the Fee Rule.

Where to Find Filing Fee Changes

USCIS explained that as of Apr. 1, 2024, form instructions will no longer include filing fees. Rather, you will find them on the Form G-1055, Fee Schedule. USCIS further stated that the Fee Schedule and Fee Calculator will be updated on Apr. 1, 2024, For a comparison of the fees until Apr. 1 and the new fees in the Fee Rule, refer to Table 1 of the Fee Rule and USCIS FAQs, which list all the changes in filing fees. When reviewing the Fee Schedule, remember that before considering what the filing fee is for an applicant or petitioner, it will be important to determine whether there is a fee exemption or whether they are eligible to file a request for a fee waiver. Keep in mind that there are many filing fee exemptions in the new rule, especially for humanitarian-based applicants.

Discount for Online Filings

For many benefit requests, there is now a $50 discount for filing applications online, except in limited circumstances, such as when the form fee is already provided at a substantial discount or USCIS is prohibited by law from charging a full cost recovery level fee. Only these Forms are available to file online. USCIS explained applicants and petitioners will not be able to submit older versions of forms online after Apr. 1, 2024, and it intends to expand online filing to additional forms in the future.

Biometrics Fee

USCIS eliminated a separate biometrics fee for forms with limited exceptions, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and filings accepted on behalf of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), where there is a separate $30 fee, instead of the current $85 fee.

Payments

USCIS will not redeposit payments returned as unpayable for a reason other than insufficient funds. Additionally, fees paid using a credit card are not subject to dispute, chargeback, forced refund, or return to the cardholder for any reason except at the discretion of USCIS. Further, the new rule eliminates the $30 returned check fee. Finally, USCIS no longer accepts a single check or money order for combined fees when a person is submitting multiple applications at once. For example, if a petitioner is filing a family-based petition, and the beneficiary of the petition is filing an application for adjustment of status with the family-based petition, there must be separate payments for the petition and application. Likewise, for TPS applications accompanied by a payment, any filing and biometrics fees will require separate checks or money orders. USCIS may reject any filing if a single, combined payment for multiple forms is submitted.

Form Revisions, Grace Periods, and Deadlines

Due to the fee schedule changes, USCIS will issue revised forms that will go in effect on Apr. 1, 2024. USCIS will accept prior and new editions of most forms through Jun. 3, 2024, if filed with the correct fee. However, there will be no grace period for the following new forms:

• Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker;
• Form I-129CW, Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker;
• Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers;
• Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition (and Form I-600A/I-600 Supplements 1, 2, and 3); and
• Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.

For forms that have no grace period, petitioners and applicants must use the new form versions, beginning Apr. 1, 2024. Preview versions of these forms are available on the form’s landing page. USCIS will use the postmark date of a filing to determine which form version and fees are correct, and it will use the receipt date for purposes of any regulatory or statutory filing deadlines. To determine a postmark date, USCIS generally relies on the shipping date printed on the USPS or courier service shipping label. If there is no shipping date on the label, USCIS will consider the label’s print date as the postmark date. If no print or ship date are available on the package’s label, USCIS will assume the postmark date is 10 days before the date of receipt.

Fee Exemptions

The Fee Rule codifies existing fee exemptions and provides for new fee exemptions, including exemptions for certain humanitarian filings. Notable expanded exemptions will apply to the following:

• Special Immigrant Juveniles (SIJs);
• Survivors of human trafficking (T nonimmigrant status);
• Survivors of crime (U nonimmigrant status);
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners;
• Special Immigrant Afghan or Iraqi translators or interpreters, Iraqi nationals employed by or for the U.S. government or Afghan nationals employed by or for the U.S. government or employed by the International Security Assistance Force and their derivatives;
• Abused spouses and children adjusting status under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) and Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA);
• Abused spouses and children seeking Benefits under Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA);
• Abused spouses and children of LPRs or U.S. citizens under INA § 240A(b)(2);
• Refugees or LPRs based on refugee status seeking a Refugee Travel Document (RTD);
• Conditional permanent residents seeking a waiver of the Form I-751 joint filing requirement based on battery or extreme cruelty;
• Certain U.S. military servicemembers; and
• Certain adoption-related requests.

The expanded humanitarian exemptions generally extend through the adjudication of adjustment of status, and the exemptions also apply to derivative beneficiaries in the VAWA, U, and T nonimmigrant contexts. You can find a complete list of changes to fee exemptions and fee waivers in the Final Rule in Table 5C. They will also be in 8 CFR §106.2 and 8 CFR § 106.3(b). If a filing is fee exempt, do not send any fee or fee waiver request. USCIS indicated that if an applicant erroneously submits a fee for a case where a fee exemption applies, USCIS will intake and deposit the fee.

Fee Waivers

The Fee Rule codifies fee waiver criteria for which USCIS may grant a request for fee waiver. Eligibility is based on inability to pay, and fee waivers will continue to be available for applicants who: (1) receive means-tested public benefits; (2) have income at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG); or (3) demonstrate financial hardship. USCIS will accept either a written request for a fee waiver or Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, with supporting evidence attached. Additionally, once the Fee Rule becomes effective, USCIS modified the Form I-912 instructions to accept evidence of a child’s receipt of means-tested benefits to show a parent’s inability to pay based on receipt of means-tested benefits because a child’s receipt of means-tested benefits is dependent upon household income. Do not submit a fee when requesting a fee waiver. Otherwise, USCIS will intake and deposit the fee, and the fee waiver request will not be adjudicated. Table 5C in the Final Rule outlines forms for which an applicant may request a fee waiver. They will also be enumerated at 8 CFR § 106.3(a)(3).

Adjustment of Status and Fee Unbundling for Interim Benefits

For applications postmarked after Apr. 1, 2024, if the filing fee is not exempt, for Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, the filing fee will generally increase to $1,440. Children under the age of 14, who file adjustment applications concurrently with their parents, will be eligible for a reduced fee of $950. For applicants who filed (postmark date) their Form I-485 before Apr. 1, 2024, there is no separate fee for interim benefits, including Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.

For those filing for adjustment of status on or after Apr. 1, 2024 (postmark date), the Fee Rule requires an unbundling or separation of filing fees for Form I-485, Form I-131, and Form I-765, regardless of whether these forms are filed together, unless the applicants are fee exempt or eligible for a fee waiver. For those applying to adjust their status and obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) at the same time and for those applying for an EAD while the I-485 is pending, the EAD application is half price ($260).

Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card

The Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, will decrease from $540 (with biometrics) to $415, if applicants file it online, or $465, if applicants file it on paper.

DACA

The Fee Rule makes no changes to the fee for Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals; it remains $85. However, DACA applicants must submit Form I-765 with their Form I-821D, and there is an increase in the filing fee for the I-765 to $520 for paper filing and $470 for online filing. There is no fee waiver available for DACA-related applications.

TPS

The Fee Rule makes no changes to the fee for Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, for initial registration, which the statute caps at $50. Similarly, the Fee Rule makes no change to fees for re-registration for TPS, as statute does not allow for a fee for TPS re-registration applications. However, the biometrics fee will decrease from $85 to $30, and the biometrics fee will apply to all applicants; there will no longer be a biometrics fee exemption for minors under age 14. Furthermore, there will be an increase in the filing fee for Form I-765 to $520 for paper filing and $470 for online filing for all applicants. There will no longer be a fee exemption for an (a)(12) or (c)(19) category I-765 filed by an initial TPS applicant under age 14 or over age 65. TPS applicants may request a fee waiver for filing fees referenced herein.

Naturalization

As explained above, criteria for fee waiver requests are now codified. Additionally, USCIS expanded the threshold for fee reductions for naturalization applications after Apr. 1, 2024. Prior to Apr. 1, 2024, if an applicant’s documented annual household income is greater than 150% but not more than 200% of the FPG at the time of filing, they may be eligible for a reduced filing fee. After the Final Rule goes into effect, eligibility for the reduced fee will expand to applicants with a household income at or below 400% of the FPG. Finally, a new Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, will incorporate a request for a reduced fee. USCIS intends to eliminate Form I-942, Request for Reduced Fee. So, if an applicant is requesting a reduced fee using the new edition of the form, they will not submit Form I-942. If an applicant submits the prior edition of Form N-400 during the grace period (between Apr. 1 and Jun. 3, 2024), and they request a reduced fee, the applicant must submit Form I-942. Those requesting a naturalization fee reduction must still submit their application on paper instead of online. All N-400 applicants must submit biometrics; however, the new rule removes the separate biometrics service fee.

Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (Asylum Program Fee)

The Final Rule establishes separate fees for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, by nonimmigrant classification. The rule includes a new Asylum Program Fee of $600. This is not a fee to file an asylum application. Rather, it is a fee employers pay when they file either a Form I-129, Form I-129CW, or Form I-140. DHS exempts this fee for nonprofit petitioners and reduces it by half ($300) for small employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.