DHS Proposes Increase in Fees, Including H1B Registrations

By: Zoe Mirza 

USCIS has proposed an increase in fees for certain petitions, including citizenship and employment visas. The additional income would allow USCIS to increase the number of immigration personnel and the salaries of those already employed.

Among the newly proposed changes is an increase of the H1B Lottery registration fee. The fee increase would change the registration fee from $10 USD to $215 USD. The reasoning behind this dramatic fee increase is that USCIS “lacked sufficient data to precisely estimate the costs of the registration process and implemented the $10 fee to provide an initial stream of revenue to fund part of the costs to USCIS of operating the registration program.”

As per USCIS, key points to the proposed rule are:

• Preserving the existing fee waiver eligibility for low-income and vulnerable populations;
• Adding a new fee exemption for certain humanitarian programs;
• Limiting the fee increase for naturalization applicants;
• Distributing fees based on filers’ ability to pay;
• Incorporating biometrics costs into the main benefit fee and removing the separate biometric services fee in most cases;
• Requiring separate filing fees for Form I-485 and associated Form I-131 and Form I-765 filings;
• Establishing separate fees for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, by nonimmigrant classification;
• Limiting the number of named beneficiaries on certain petitions for nonimmigrant workers; and,
• Revising the premium processing timeframe interpretation from calendar days to business days.

Additionally, USCIS hopes to increase fees for the EB5 investor program. The increase would justify the processing costs associated with the program and provide resources to help USCIS meet the additional fee guidelines and processing time requirements provided in the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.

Under the proposed rule, USCIS could collect an average of 5.2 billion dollars per year during fiscal periods 2022 and 2023, or approximately 6.4 billion dollars including charges for special procedures.

USCIS is also expected to allocate $1.165 million for an addition of 7,778 employees and $149 million for annual salary increases for federal employees, as approved by Congress.

The proposed rule will have a 60-day public comment period that begins on January 4, 2023. It is important to note that this is a proposed rule and has not been made into law yet. For questions on how this may affect you, please contact your trusted Chugh, LLP immigration professional.

Sources:

• Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 2
• USCIS: USCIS Issues Proposed Rule to Adjust Certain Immigration and Naturalization Fees
• Federal Register
• USCIS: Proposed Fee Rule FAQ
• USCIS Fiscal Year 2022 Progress Report