I have been warning my clients for the past several months that there is a rumor circulating that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is going to be raising its fees soon. It is no longer a rumor. USCIS has announced its new fee schedule effective December 23, 2016
The immigration service is increasing many of its fees, some of them are quite substantially. For example, where it is used to cost $1,490 for a spouse or immediate family member to adjust status and receive a green card while in the U.S., that fee will increase to $1,760. That is just for the government. The attorney fees will be on top of that. Similarly, to apply for citizenship is increasing from $595 to $640. The fiancé petition fee is increasing from $340 to $535, while fees to replace a lost or stolen green card are increasing from $365 to $455. Petition for non-immigrant workers (H-Visas) are increasing from $345 to $460.
I am linking to the entire fee schedule, so you can see all of the increases in USCIS fees. The good news is that we have warning of these fee increases. I will be encouraging my existing clients who intend to file various applications that they need to do their part to expedite this process. Certainly, we will be endeavoring to beat the December 23 fee increases where that is possible. For people who have been thinking about filing a petition, now may be a good time to do it. Everything will be a little bit more expensive after Christmas.