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News

Update on USCIS Fee Increases

There have been some updates regarding the immigration fee increases that were announced on January 31st.  And fortunately, the updates are advantageous to Duke.

In the face of intense criticism of the large increases, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has created fee discounts for nonprofits and small employers.  The language in the final rule is not entirely clear, but the relevant professional organizations all agree that universities likely will qualify as nonprofits under the rule.

Assuming that is the case, here are the new final fees that will most directly impact Duke filings:

  1. The H-1B filing fee will not change and will remain at $460.  As far as we know, the $500 Fraud Prevention fee will also not be changing.
  2. The O-1 filing fees will increase to $530 (from $460).
  3. The TN and E-3 filing fee will increase to $510 (from $460), though please note that this only impacts the fees for filing for an extension within the U.S., and that the fees for requesting the TN via travel should remain unchanged.
  4. The fees for I-539 dependent applications will increase to either $420 or $470, depending on whether the dependent(s) file their applications online or via the traditional paper route (from $370). 
  5. The filing fee for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), including those for students applying for OPT, as well as for DACA recipients, J-2 and H-4 visa holders and green card applicants will increase to $470 for online filings and $520 for paper filings.  The previous filing fee was $410.

As a reminder, the previously announced increase in the premium processing fee will go into effect on February 26, 2024.  For employment-based filings (H-1B, O-1, E-3, etc.), the premium processing fee will increase from $2500 to $2805.

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