Immigration Fees to Increase Effective Dec. 23
By Reuben S. Seguritan
November 02, 2016
Effective December 23, fees for most immigration applications and petitions will increase by an average of 21 percent.
The increase will be the first in six years. A comprehensive review had determined that the USCIS was not recovering the full costs of processing immigrant benefits. Lack of congressional appropriations especially for the asylum, refugee, military naturalization services, and the SAVE program that were ordinarily reliant upon Congress’ budgetary allocation likewise affected this move.
To recover the full cost of services including costs of fraud detection and national security, customer services, case processing and providing benefits without charge to refugee and asylum applicants, the fee increases had to be imposed, said USCIS director Leon Rodriquez.
For those applying for naturalization, there will be an increase in the standard fee for Form N-400 from $595 to $640. Fee waivers will still be available to those who meet the requirements under the law. A reduced fee of $320 will be offered to naturalization applicants with family income greater than 150% and not more than 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
For those who are claiming US citizenship due to birth abroad to US citizen parent(s) and need proof of US citizenship through Form N-600 and N-600K, there will be an increase from $600 and $550, respectively, to $1,170. This is essentially a 95% increase compared to the old schedule and one of the more substantial raises.
Fees for family-based petitions will go up as well. I-129F Application for Alien Fiancé(e) will increase from $340 to $535; I-130 Petitions for Alien Relative from $420 to $535. Under the current fee schedule, the total filing fee for a one-step, concurrent filing of Form I-130, Form I-485, Form I-765 and Form I-131 is $1,490; this will be bumped up to $1,760. I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence will also increase from $985 to $1,140. I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence will increase from $505 to $595.
Employment-based petitions will not be exempted either. I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker will increase from $325 to $460 which is a 42% increase and one of the highest increases for this service since 2007. I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker will increase from $580 to $700.
I-601 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Excludability and I-601A Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver will both increase from $585 to $930 and $630, respectively. Fees for employment authorization permits (I-765) will increase from $380 to $410. This increase will affect foreign students approved for Optional Practical Training (OPT), spouses of certain nonimmigrant visa holders as well as recipients of DACA and TPS applicants.
Biometric or fingerprinting fee will remain at $85.
Applications and petitions postmarked on or after December 23, 2016 must pay the new fees or they will not be accepted.