The announced increase in the cost of H-1B registration and petition filling fees for Form l-907, Request for Premium Processing, has officially taken effect, as confirmed by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Through a statement, the changes were announced by USCIS on December 28, 2023, and they have officially become effective on February 26, VisaGuide.World reports.
The new changes affect H-2B visa for which the fee will increase from $1,500 to $1,685, as well as the following classifications: 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 for which the fee will increase from $2,500 to $2,805.
USCIS has also announced an increase in fees in form l-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker Employment-based (EB) classifications from $2,500 to $2,800, or more specifically in the following categories:
- E11
- E12
- E21 (non-NIW)
- E31
- E32
- EW3
- E13
- E21 (NIW))
Student Visa Prices Have Also Been Affected
An increase is also expected for Form I-539, application to extend/change nonimmigrant status has also taken effect from $1,750 to $1,965 in the following classifications: F-1, F-2, M-1, M-2, J-1, J-2, E-1, E-2, E-3, L-2, H-4, O-3, P-4, and R-2)
As for the Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, the fees have increased from $1,500 to $1,685. This includes certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, and C03C.
The fees remained unchanged for a period of three years. But now, in addition to the increasing fees, DHS is also seeking to make improvements to the adjudication process, respond to adjudication demands, take into account reducing benefit request processing backlogs, and otherwise fund USCIS adjudication and naturalization services.
“After leaving these fees unchanged for the three years following passage of the Act, DHS is now increasing the premium processing fees USCIS charges for all eligible forms and categories to reflect the amount of inflation from June 2021 through June 2023, according to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.” USCIS
USCIS Claims It Has Increased Fees in Bid to Cover Expenses
Introducing the new changes, the Department of Homeland Security said that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services are mainly funded by fees that are charged to applicants and petitioners, indicating that they had no choice but to increase them.
However, soon after the announcement, the proposal was criticized by over 6000 persons and organizations during the two-month comment period. The criticism has not pushed USCIS to back off after the same moved on to implement the changes.
The H-1B visa permits employers in the US to hire highly qualified workers from other countries, provided they cannot find them in the US. Amongst the main beneficiaries of this scheme are nationals from India.
