U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will increase premium processing fees on Feb. 26.

Under a rule published Thursday, fees will increase as follows:

  • Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Premium processing fees for all Form I-129 requests for classifications other than H-2B and R-1 will increase from $2,500 to $2,805. Premium processing fees for H-2B and R-1 Form I-129 requests will increase from $1,500 to $1,685.
  • Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. Premium processing fees for Form I-140 requests will increase from $2,500 to $2,805.
  • Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. Premium processing fees for Form I-539 requests will increase from $1,750 to $1,965.
  • Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Premium processing fees for Form I-765 requests will increase from $1,500 to $1,685.

Additional Information: In 2020, Congress passed the USCIS Stabilization Act, setting new premium processing fees and allowing the Department of Homeland Security to adjust fees every two years. In a statement, DHS said it is increasing fees “for all eligible forms and categories to reflect the amount of inflation from June 2021 through June 2023 according to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.”

The new fees will apply to all premium processing requests postmarked on or after Feb. 26, 2024. Premium processing is only available for some benefits. More information is available here. The new premium processing fees are unrelated to filing-fee increases USCIS proposed across visa categories in early 2023; the agency is targeting April 2024 to publish a rule finalizing those fee increases.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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