Biometrics Fee No Longer Required for Asylum-Based EAD Applicants

By: Vandana Marath

Following a recent court decision, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer require a biometrics fee for asylum-based applicants for employment authorization documents (EADs). The court case, Asylumworks et al. v. Mayorkas et al., vacated the Timeline Repeal Rule and the Asylum EAD Rule on February 7, 2022. Therefore, USCIS returned to prior policy for all affected procedures.

USCIS is expected to release an updated version of the Application for Employee Authorization. Until then, applicants are instructed to ignore the directions regarding the biometrics fee if they are filing Form I-765 under the (c)(8) eligibility category.

applicants who have already submitted a fee

For eligible applicants that have already sent in the $85 biometrics fee, there are two possible outcomes:

• For individuals that have only submitted the $85 fee, USCIS will return the fee and process Form I-765 normally.
• For individuals that have submitted the fee combined with any additional fees, such as EAD renewal, USCIS will reject Form I-765 for overpayment and will require refiling.

conclusion

For general information regarding Form I-765 visit the USCIS website. For help filing an application or any case-specific questions, contact your Chugh, LLP immigration professional.