US increases visa, green card processing fee

Under the new rules, applicants will have to pay extra money to get an employment-based green card, starting from the H-1B visa

Applicants seeking to obtain visas and green cards in the United States within a short time are about to face more “complications” as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has enforced new rules increasing premium processing fees from Mar 1.

Under the new rules, applicants will have to pay higher fees for premium processing of petitions ranging from the H-1B visa to employment-based green cards.

The information was announced in a USCIS notice, which said the move was taken to adjust fees in line with inflation and to help reduce the long-standing backlog in visa processing.

USCIS said only applications submitted with the increased fees will be accepted for priority processing. Otherwise, the authorities will reject them directly. However, paying the higher fee does not guarantee approval.

The premium processing fee for H-1B, employment-based green cards and L-1 visas has been increased from $2,805 to $2,965. Fees for family-based green card applications remain unchanged.

For seasonal and religious workers under the H-2B and R-1 categories, the fee has been raised from $1,685 to $1,780.

The premium fee for Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM-OPT work authorisation remains at $1,780. However, the fee for change of status applications for students under F, J and M categories has been increased to $2,075.

Premium processing fees for O-1, P, Q, E and TN (Form I-129) work visas have also been raised from $2,805 to $2,965.

USCIS warned in a post on its website that any application postmarked on or after Mar 1 that includes the old fee will be rejected, potentially causing delays for applicants.

Under US law, premium processing fees are subject to review every two years. Therefore, the possibility of further increases in the future cannot be ruled out.

Amid rising inflation, the higher costs are expected to place additional pressure on both employers and immigrant workers, according to those concerned.

However, if the commitment of reducing backlogs is fulfilled, the change may benefit applicants in the long term, said New York-based immigration attorney Ashok Karmakar.