Premium Processing Fee will Increase Effective February 26, 2024, and Other Fee Increases are Expected Soon
On December 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an “inflation adjustment” to premium processing fees effective February 26, 2024. This final rule will increase the premium processing filing fee associated with the Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, by roughly 12%. Employers will need to take these fee increases into consideration when reviewing and revising budget forecasts as well as internal immigration policies. The new fees are as follows:
Form I-129 Petition for 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:
Current Fee: $2,500 // New Fee: $2,805
Form I-129 Petition for H-2B or R-1:
Current Fee: $1,500 // New Fee: $1,685
Form I-140 Petition:
Current Fee: $2,500 // New Fee: $2,805
Form I-539 Application requesting a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2:
Current Fee: $1,750 // New Fee: $1,965
Form I-765 for F-1 students seeking OPT or STEM OPT extensions:
Current Fee: $1,500 // New Fee: $1,685
As a reminder, premium processing is an expedited processing service that is available for certain types of immigration benefits requests. By requesting premium processing, USCIS guarantees they will take action on the case—typically a decision or Request for Evidence—within a certain timeframe (or else refund the premium processing fee):
- 15 calendar days for most classifications, including but not limited to Form I-129 for H-1B classification, Form I-140 for EB-1A extraordinary ability and EB-1B outstanding researcher classifications, and all PERM-based I-140s;
- 30 calendar days for Form I-765 for F-1 students seeking OPT or STEM OPT extensions;
- 30 calendar days for Form I-539 applicants requesting a change of status to F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, or J-2 nonimmigrant status, once all prerequisites, including receipt of biometrics, have been met; and
- 45 calendar days for Form I-140 EB-1C multinational executive and manager and Form I-140 EB-2 national interest waiver classifications.
Not all petitions eligible for premium processing must utilize the service. In some cases, it may be strategically sound to file with either regular processing or premium processing, depending on the circumstances.
Other Fees Expected to Increase Soon
In addition to the confirmed increase to premium processing fees, a proposed fee hike—initially drafted in 2019 and proposed in the Federal Register in 2023—looks likely to finally take place within the next few months. After receiving numerous public comments in response to the proposed rule, USCIS submitted the final rule containing the new fees to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on January 8, 2024. OIRA has up to 90 days to complete its review, and then once the rule is published in the Federal Register, it will likely take effect at least 60 days later. Please refer to our previous News Alert on USCIS’s proposed Fee Increases, and reach out to your attorney at McCown & Evans LLP for more information.