On January 30, local time, the U.S. Immigration Service officially announced: from April 1, 2024, the USCIS will implement a new fee standard.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, hereinafter referred to as "USCIS") has been raising prices for a year and has finally announced! Judging from the content announced, it covers almost all businesses, including work cards, green cards, naturalization, and even tourist visa application extensions, all of which have increased in price, and the most astonishing increase is the H-1B registration fee, which has increased by as much as 2050%, that is, 20.5 times. In addition, the cost of applying for a green card and naturalization has increased significantly.
Some common types of application fee changes:
H-1B
The H-1B registration fee rises from $10 to $215.
(The registration fee will remain at $10 for the registration period starting in March 2024, and the new fee will not be implemented until the registration period in March 2025)
The H-1B filing fee is increased to $780.
The L-1 filing fee is increased to $1385.
The I-130 Family-Based Petition Fee increases to $675.
The I-140 employment-based petition fee is increased to $715.
The I-485 onshore adjustment of status application fee increases to $1,440.
The I-526 Immigrant Investor Petition fee has increased to $11,160.
The I-539 Application Fee for Domestic Transfer of Status or Extension of Status increases to $470/420.
The I-765 EAD application fee increases to $520/470.
The I-829 Immigrant Investor Permanent Green Card application fee has increased to $9,525.
In addition, there are several features of this price adjustment -
If the application for a work card or green card is submitted at the same time, the application fee for the work card is half price
Most people don't have to pay a separate fingerprint fee
Small business owners (with fewer than 25 employees) file an I-129 fee for their employees at half price
Submit your application online for a $50 discount, and traditional mailed paper materials are available at the same price, encouraging everyone to submit online
Income between 150% and 400% of the federal poverty level and half the naturalization application fee. Previously, it was 150% to 200%, in other words, more people are eligible to move.
It is reported that the new rules are expected to take effect on April 1, 2024.
The reason for the sharp increase in the application fee is that USCIS wants to increase its budget and increase the number of people to solve the backlog of cases. The numbers show that as of the end of fiscal year 2023 (i.e., September 30, 2023), there were 9,527 backlogs of pending I-526 petitions, while there were also 2,431 pending I-526E petitions.
Previously, USCIS has also said that higher fees are needed to cover the cost of doing business. The increased fees allow USCIS to better recover its operating costs, maintain the efficiency of case processing, and prevent case backlogs.