U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, announced its new proposed fee schedule in November 2019. Don’t expect faster decisions on your applications though; they’re slowing to a crawl. The fees due to increase include adjustment of status (the application for a green card for those already legally in the U.S.), naturalization, asylum, employment-based applications, and DACA renewals. USCIS also proposes largely eliminating fee waiver applications for naturalization, adjustment of status, green card replacement and renewals (Form I-90) and employment authorization. for low-income applicants. A few applications will decrease. Note: the affected applications are filed in the U.S. with USCIS. This does not include fees paid to the Department of State through the National Visa Center or abroad at embassies. These are only a few of the changes:
| BENEFIT/APPLICATION | Form | Current Fee (incl. biometrics) | New Fee | Increase/Change |
| Naturalization | N-400 | $725 | $1,170 | $445 |
| Family-based immigration petition | I-130 | $535 | $555 | $20 |
| Adjustment of Status (including travel and employment authorization) | I-485 | $1,225 | $2,195 | $970 |
| Asylum | I-589 | $0 | $50 | $50 |
| Fiancé(e) visa petition | I-129 | $535 | $520 | -$15 |
| Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence | I-751 | $680 | $760 | $80 |
| Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes | N-470 | $355 | $1,600 | $1245 |
| Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129 H-1B | $460 | $560 | $100 |
| Petition for L Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129L | $460 | $815 | $355 |
| Petition for O Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129O | $460 | $715 | $255 |
The net result is to continue to discourage immigration by all possible means even though the administration has failed to persuade Congress to pass laws reducing immigration. Only three other countries in the world charge fees for asylum applications: Iran, Fiji, and Australia.
When will the changes take effect? We don’t know, but we expect soon. Comments can be submitted until Dec. 30, 2019, so the increases are likely to take place in early 2020. Update: The comment period has been extended to Feb. 10, then the government must review the comments.
What can you do? If you are eligible, apply as soon as possible, especially for the applications with the largest fee increases:
- Naturalization/citizenship, N-400. This application is fairly straightforward but it is extremely important to make sure you meet all the requirements, which can be more complicated than it appears.
- Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, I-485. This allows family- and employment-based applicants legally in the U.S. to apply for a green card (permanent residence). It is used for many different applicant categories, including spouses and certain other relatives of U.S. citizens; fiancé visa holders who married within 90 days of entering the U.S., and employment-based applicants whose priority date allows them to apply.
The I-485 application is not straightforward. In a marriage-based case, we normally submit 5 forms in all (I-130, I-485, I-765, I-131, I-864) and a large number of supporting documents. The required forms are extensive, repetitions, and tedious, and involve questions of law. For example, we are about to submit a full application package totaling 150 pages for a recently-married couple, and this is entirely typical. In the good old days, some couples could figure it all out, but that’s not easy any more.
