iOn December 28, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule increasing the filing fees to be paid for its premium processing services.
Quick Hits
- Effective February 26, 2024, premium processing fees will be adjusted to reflect inflationary increases from June 2021 through June 2023.
- Premium processing fees will increase from $2,500 to $2,805; from $1,750 to $1,965; and from $1,500 to $1,685.
USCIS’s premium processing services offer expedited processing for a variety of the most commonly used form types. Under the program, USCIS will take adjudicative action within specified time periods or will refund the premium processing fees.
Funds generated by the fee increases are slated to be used to provide premium processing services, improve existing adjudications processes; reduce processing backlogs, and enhance funding for other adjudication and naturalization services.
The premium processing fee increases will take effect on February 26, 2024. Premium processing applications postmarked on or after February 26, 2024, with the incorrect filing fees, will be rejected.
According to a press release announcing the final rule, the complete list of updated premium processing fees is as follows:
| Form Type | Current Fee | New Fee |
| I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | $1,500 (H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status)
$2,500 (All other available Form I-129 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)) |
$1,685 (H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status)
$2,805 (All other available Form I-129 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)) |
| I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker | $2,500 (Employment-based (EB) classifications E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW)) | $2,805 (Employment-based (EB) classifications E11, E12, E21 (non-NIW), E31, E32, EW3, E13 and E21 (NIW)) |
| I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status | $1,750 (Form I-539 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) | $1,965 (Form I-539 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) |
| I-765, Application for Employment Authorization | $1,500 (Certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, C03C) | $1,685 (Certain F-1 students with categories C03A, C03B, C03C) |
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “USCIS Announces Inflation Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees,” December 27, 2023
