U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (USCIS), announced new fees to go into effect Oct. 2. Any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after Oct. 2, 2020 must include the new fees. The rule also makes changes to Form I-129, premium processing, and other fee processing changes. There will be a 60-day grace period in which you must pay the new fee but can submit the old form. If you submit the wrong/old edition of a form or fee, USCIS will reject the filing. 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, waivers, and employment-based applications. Fee waiver application will be limited to VAWA self-petitioners, T and U nonimmigrants, certain battered spouses and children, and TPS applicants, with very limited exceptions. Fee waivers will generally no longer be permitted for Forms I-765 and I-539.. A few application fees 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. The following are only a few of the changes for paper filings, not including biometrics fee; the fee is generally $10 lower for online filing if available.
*Note re I-485 Adjustment of Status: Currently there is no additional fee to file optional applications for employment (I-765) and travel (I-131) authorizations when filed with the I-485. From Oct. 2 2020 those applications will no longer be included but will have additional fees – $550 for the I-765 employment and $590 for the I-131 travel application.
| BENEFIT/APPLICATION | Form | Current Fee |
New Fee | Increase/Change |
| Naturalization (paper filing) |
N-400 | $640 | $1,170 | $530 |
| Family-based immigration petition | I-130 | $535 | $560 | $25 |
| Adjustment of Status (including travel and employment authorization – see above)* | I-485 | $1,140 | $2,270 | $1,130 |
| Asylum | I-589 | $0 | $50 | $50 |
| Fiancé(e) visa petition | I-129 | $535 | $510 | -$25 |
| Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence | I-751 | $595 | $760 | $165 |
| Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes | N-470 | $355 | $1,585 | $1230 |
| Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129 H-1B | $460 | $555 | $95 |
| Petition for L Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129L | $460 | $805 | $345 |
| Petition for O Nonimmigrant Worker | I-129O | $460 | $705 | $245 |
Premium processing is available for some employment-based applications for an additional fee. The premium processing timeframe will change from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
If you are eligible, apply as soon as possible, especially for the applications such as the I-485 adjustment of status with the largest fee increases including:
- 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, repetitive, 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. USCIS added a new form to evaluate whether the applicant is likely to be a “public charge” – the I-944 Declaration of Self-Sufficiency – requiring extensive financial information and documentation but that form is on hold after a court ruling in July 2020.
