New USCIS Filing Fee Schedule Takes Effect On October 2, 2020 – What Employers Need To Know
On Friday, July 31, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) announced an increase in the filing fees for
various application and petition forms the public use to apply for
immigration benefits. Initially proposed in November 2019, the new
USCIS filing fees will go into effect on October 2, 2020, and
broadly constitute a 20% increase over the current USCIS filing
fees. The new USCIS filing fee schedule was published on August 3,
2020 and is available for review on the Federal
Register’s website at the following address: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-08-03/pdf/2020-16389.pdf.
This writing will only provide information as to how the new USCIS
filing fee schedule will impact U.S. employers on or after October
2, 2020.
Filing Fee Changes
While most USCIS filing fees for applications and petitions will
increase on October 2, 2020, there are a few filing fees that have
decreased under the new USCIS fee schedule. Here is a list of
filing fee changes for some of the main employment-based petition
and application forms:
| Immigration Benefit Request | Current Fee | Final Fee | Change | Percent
Change |
| Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
(H-1B; H-1B1) |
$460.00 | $555.00 | $95.00 | 21% |
| Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)
(L-1) |
$460.00 | $805.00 | $345.00 | 75% |
| Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)
(TN) |
$460.00 | $695.00 | $235.00 | 51% |
| Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)
(E-1; E-2; or E-3) |
$460.00 | $695.00 | $235.00 | 51% |
| Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker)
(H-2B) |
$460.00 | $715.00 | $255.00 | 55% |
| Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) | $700.00 | $555.00 | -$145.00 | -21% |
| Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Resident or Adjust
Status) |
$1,140.00 | $1,130.00 | -$10.00 | -1% |
| Form I-131 (Application for Travel Document) | $575.00 | $590.00 | $15.00 | 3% |
| Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) | $410.00 | $550.00 | $140.00 | 34% |
| Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) –
paper filing |
$370.00 | $400.00 | $30.00 | 8% |
| Form I-824 (Application for Action on an Approved Application or
Petition) |
$465.00 | $495.00 | $30.00 | 6% |
| Form I-290B (Notice of Appeal or Motion) | $675.00 | $700.00 | $25.00 | 4% |
| Biometric Service | $85.00 | $30.00 | $55.00 | -65% |
Petition and Application Form Changes
In addition to the increase in the filing fees, the USCIS has
indicated that it will revise some of its petition and application
forms thirty (30) days before the new filing fee schedule takes
effect.1 Two of the forms that
USCIS has indicated will be revised are the following:
- Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker); and
- Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization).
These new forms must be used when the new filing fees take
effect on October 2, 2020.2
Premium Processing Changes
The new filing fee rule will also change how premium processing
service is provided by the government, as follows:
- USCIS Premium Processing Service Will TakeLonger:
The final rule increases the timeframe USCISexaminers have to adjudicate a petition from 15 calendar days to
15 business days.
- USICS Premium Processing Fee May Be IncreasedAnnually:
The final rule also has a provision that allowsthe USCIS to increase the premium processing filing fee at its
discretion without the need for review under the rule-making
process.
New Interpretation by USCIS of PL 113-114 filing fee
The new filing fee rule changes when the PL 113-114 filing fee
is applicable as follows:
- PL 113-114 Fee to Apply to Initial H-1B and L-1 Filingsand H-1B and L-1 Extension of Stay Filings
: U.S. employersthat employ 50 or more workers with 50% or more of their workers in
the U.S. in H-1B or L-1 status are currently required to pay an
extra filing fee of $4,000.00 (H-1B) or $4,500.00 (L-1) when filing
an initial H-1B or L-1 petition. The new filing fee rule now
requires the PL 113-114 filing fee to be paid not only at the time
of the initial H-1B or L-1 petition filing for the foreign
national, but now requires this filing fee to be paid when the U.S.
employer is subsequently extending the status of the foreign
national. This change in the interpretation of the language
contained in PL 113-114 by USCIS to now require the PL 113-114
filling fee to be paid when extending the stay of the foreign
national is a significant cost increase for U.S. employers that
rely heavily on the H-1B and L-1 programs. It is anticipated that
this provision of the final filing fee rule will be challenged
through some type of litigation.
Conclusion
U.S. employers will likely move forward quickly with petition
and application filings between now and October 2, 2020 to avoid
paying the higher filing fees. U.S. employers that select premium
processing service will also need to plan for longer processing by
USCIS in the future. U.S. employers would want to check the
expiration dates of their workers in H-1B or L-1 status in the
U.S., who expire before March 31, 2020, and file any extension of
stay petitions before October 2, 2020 in order to avoid paying the
additional $4,000.00 (H-1B) or $4,500.00 (L-1) PL 113-114 filing
fee. In addition, with the USCIS recently conducting a second
lottery for H-1B registrations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, because
it did not receive enough H-1B cap petition filings, U.S. employers
who have had their H-1B registrations recently selected in this
second lottery round would want to quickly move forward and file an
H-1B cap petition for the H-1B worker for an October 1, 2020 start
date before the new H-1B filing fee and new Form I-129 petition
form take effect. U.S. employers may also need to budget more money
after October 2, 2020, if interested in sponsoring foreign
nationals for the H-1B and L-1 categories.
Footnotes
2. https://www.aila.org/File/Related/20073100b.pdf
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.