USCIS to Raise Fees soon

• The newest proposal would increase fees by an overall weighted average of 40 percent. 

• The proposal includes separate fees for different Form I-129 categories (see table below). USCIS is not proposing to split the Form I-129 into separate forms at this time but may do so in the future. 
• The proposal would change how USCIS calculates premium processing times to use business days rather than calendar days. 
• USCIS has not increased fees since 2016. The Trump administration issued a regulation to increase fees in 2020 but was blocked in court from implementing it.
• Separately, the State Department submitted a final rule to increase nonimmigrant and special visa application processing fees  last week to the White House Office of Management and Budget. The text of the rule is not available, but OMB review is the last step in the rulemaking process before it can be published. The State Department stated the increases will help “ensure that the fees for providing these consular services better align with the costs of providing the services” 

The proposed USCIS fee increases would  be onerous to many employers. There could be changes but we will take a wait and see approach. The increased State department fees will also increase costs. However, the exact amount of the increase as this time is unknown.