On Wednesday September 4, 2019, USCIS published a?proposed rule?in the Federal Register that would require payment of a $10 fee from all petitioners filing a H-1B cap-subject petition. The rule would apply to each?registration submitted for the selection process, and is expected to be applicable to 2021 fiscal year cap filings. The 30-day public comment period is now open, with comments due 10/4/19 via mail or the Federal eRulemaking?Portal:?www.regulations.gov.
The new fee, which was excluded from the original January 2019?final rule?that introduced the new online registration requirement, is expected to result in a marginal increase in costs for selected selected petitioners, and a?cost savings for both unselected petitioners and the government. This is one in a series of steps toward implementing the new electronic registration system for H-1B filing. Details remain to be released about the new process,?which will be in place for the April 2020 H-1B filing season.
We will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more information becomes available.?If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair representative. For more frequent updates,?please follow us on?Twitter?(@GrahamAdairLaw).
USCIS Fee Increase Chart
During a stakeholder meeting, USCIS clarified that it conducts a fee review every two years to make sure that the fee structure captures the costs of services.? This 21% weighted average fee increase is the first in 6 years.
Applications using old fees that are postmarked before December 23 but received after this date will be accepted.? However, applications postmarked on or after December 23 must include the new fees or they will be rejected.
These are the filing fee increases for the most common employment-based petitions:
| Form | Old ($) | New ($) |
| I-129 (H-1B, L-1, O-1, etc.) | 325 | 460 |
| I-539 (H-4, L-2, O-3, etc.) | 290 | 370 |
| I-140 (immigrant petition) | 580 | 700 |
| I-485 Adjustment of Status | 985 + 85 (bio fee) | 1140 + 85 (bio fee) |
| I-485 (child) | 635 | 750 |
| I-131 (adv parole, reentry prmt) | 360 | 575 |
| I-765 (EAD work authorization) | 380 | 410 |
| N-400 (citizenship) | 595 + 85 (bio fee) | 640 + 85 (bio fee) |
| Premium Processing Fee | 1225 | 1225 |
Premium processing for I-485 (Adjustment of Status) applications will still not be available after the fee increase. For questions, please feel free to contact your Graham Adair attorney.