January 17, 2024
Legal Alert
On December 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that premium processing fees related to employment-based visa and green card petitions will increase as of February 26, 2024. USCIS will reject any premium processing requests postmarked on or after February 26, 2024.
As part of the announcement, USCIS noted that the additional revenue generated by these fee increases will be utilized to:
- Provide premium processing services;
- Make improvements to adjudications processes;
- Respond to adjudication demands, including reducing benefit request processing backlogs; and
- Fund USCIS adjudication and naturalization services.
Below are the applicable new premium processing fees:
Visa Category |
New Premium Processing Fee |
E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, TN-1, and TN-2 |
$2,805.00 (currently is $2,500.00) |
H-2B and R-1 |
$1,685.00 (currently is $1,500.00) |
Employment Based Green Card Petitions (E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW)) |
$2,805.00 (currently is $2,500.00) |
Change of Nonimmigrant Status (F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, J-2, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-2, H-4, O-3, P-4, and R-2) |
$1,965.00 (currently is $1,750.00) |
Application for Employment Authorization for certain F-1 students (C03A, C03B, C03C) |
$1,685.00 (currently is $1,500.00) |
Proposed USCIS Fees Increases Under Consideration
In January 2023, USCIS announced a series of proposed filing fees increases, which it is set to implement in 2024. The effective dates are expected to be announced in April 2024.
The proposed increases include:
Visa Category |
Proposed Fee |
H-1B (Form I-129) |
$780.00 (currently is $460.00) |
L (Form I-129) |
$1,385.00 (currently is $460.00) |
E and TN (I-129) |
$1,015.00 (currently is $460.00) |
O (I-129) |
$1,055.00 (currently is $460.00) |
H-3, P, Q, and R |
$1,015.00 (currently is $460.00) |
H-1B Electronic Registration Fee |
$215.00 (currently is $10.00) |
I-140 Immigrant Petitions (all) |
$715.00 (currently is $700.00) |
Please note that USCIS is also considering adding a $600.00 Asylum Program Fee to each of these proposed fees.
Our Immigration Practice Team will continue to monitor and report on key developments in this area; we are available to answer questions related to this and other immigration topics.
