USCIS to Add New Fees to Employment-Based Petitions

As a follow up to our earlier message regarding the increase in USCIS filing fees effective April 1, 2024, USCIS also will start imposing a fee on employers filing petitions using Forms I-129, I-129CW and I-140 to fund the agency’s Asylum Program. The fee for each petition is an additional $600 for large employers (defined as 26 or more full-time employees), $300 for small employers (defined as 25 or fewer full-time employees), and $0 for non-profit employers. The new Asylum Program fee will help subsidize the costs associated with processing asylum applications for which there is no government filing fee. Please see our updated table below. 

USCIS also has unbundled the government filing fees Applications to Adjust Status, Applications for Travel Document, and Applications for Employment Authorization, which previously had one filing fee for all three applications. Effective April 1, 2024, all three applications will require separate filing fees, whether or not they are filed concurrently.

Below is a table capturing all the required government filing fees for select petitions effective April 1, 2024. We added a row for premium processing fee for I-129s and I-140s even though the fee increase will take effect earlier on February 26, 2024.

As a reminder, the fees for premium processing service will increase effective February 26, 2024. The fees will go up by 11%. USCIS also has revised the premium processing timeframe from calendar days to business days.  For example, for premium processing of I-129 petitions and most I-140s, the processing time now will be 15 business days instead of 15 calendar days. The premium processing timeframe for I-140s for international managers and executives (EB-1-C) and national interest waivers (EB-2) will be 45 business days instead of 45 calendar days.  

Many large employers are frustrated by the dramatic increase in government filing fees for employment-based petitions and it is possible that these new fees will be challenged in court.  If this happens, some or all the new fees may not take effect as scheduled.  We will monitor any possible litigation and keep you updated.

In the meantime, USCIS has indicated that any petition or application postmarked on or after April 1, 2024 without the updated filing fees will be rejected and returned. 

A comprehensive table detailing the filing fee change for all filing types can be found here.

If you would like to discuss this development or any other immigration matter further, please don’t hesitate to contact me.