Key Points
- Existing Premium Processing fee increase effective Monday, October 19, 2020.
- For most Premium Processing cases, the fee will increase from $1,440 to $2,500.
- No new case types are eligible for Premium Processing at this time.
What is Changing?
Today, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it will increase premium processing fees, effective Monday, October 19, 2020. Any filing with a premium processing request that is postmarked on or after October 19, 2020 must include the new fee amount. The USCIS premium processing service allows applicants to pay an additional filing fee to expedite the adjudication of certain forms. Generally, expedited forms are processed in 15 calendar days. The fee for premium process is increasing to $2500 for all filings except those from requesting H-2B or R-1 nonimmigrant status. The premium processing fee for petitioners filing for H-2B or R-1 is increasing from $1,440 to $1,500.
Why is this change happening?
The fee increases signals USCIS’ continued push to fill their 2020 budget shortfalls. After the judicial injunction barring the implementation of sweeping application fee increases that were set to take effect this month, the increase to premium processing circumvents the standing judicial intervention and allows for USCIS to increase revenue.
Looking Ahead
We anticipate additional fee premium processing categories to be introduced by USCIS in the coming months. Additionally, with successful litigation efforts, USCIS could be allowed to implement their application fee increases to other case types at any time.
