U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced increases to the fees associated with filing for premium processing.
The increases took effect Monday, Oct. 19 and raised the cost of the fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing, from $1,440 to $2,500, for all filings except for those completing the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, requesting H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status. The premium processing fee for that petition will increase $60 from $1,440 to $1,500.
USCIS was required to raise the cost of premium processing filing fees by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021, which was passed by the United States House of Representatives and the Senate before being signed into law by President Donald Trump in early October.
The appropriations act also allows USICS to expand premium processing to other forms and benefit requests. However, the agency “is not yet taking that action.”
“Any expansion of premium processing to other forms will be implemented as provided in the legislation,” according to a press release from USCIS.
USCIS also planned to put in place multiple other fee hikes earlier this month that would have raised costs of immigration petitions by a weighted average of 20 percent across the board, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But, those new rules were blocked by a federal judge and remain enjoined nationwide.
What is premium processing?
Premium processing is currently available for individuals filing a Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, or a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.
Filing for premium processing guarantees that the individual will receive either “an approval notice, denial notice, notice of intent to deny (or) request for evidence” from USCIS within 15 calendar days of the agency receiving the required forms.
USCIS refunds the premium processing filing fee and continues with expedited processing if it does not adjudicate the matter within the allocated 15 calendar days.