United States Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) processes immigration-related applications and benefits such as H1B Visa petitions, Green Card-related I-140 applications, or I-539 Extension/Change of Status. For specific applications, they also provide an option to expedite the processing by filing Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing.
USCIS, as part of the regular fee review to adjust for inflation, has come up with new filing fees starting from February 26th, 2024. This article will review the premium processing fee increases for all the impacted application types and common FAQs.
Background: Reason for Premium Processing Fee Increase
USCIS is a fee-funded organization, and the Premium Processing fee is a significant driver for USCIS’s operations. During Fiscal Year(FY) 2022, USCIS received about 490,588 premium processing receipts, which gave them around 1.2 Billion Dollars in revenue.
Below is a screenshot of the history of total premium processing receipts processed by USCIS from FY 2018 to FY 2022.
The previous USCIS premium processing fee increase was announced in October 2020, which increased the fee for Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing from $1,440 to $2500 for H1B, L1, E1, E2, O1, etc., and also the Green Card-related I-140 applications.
USCIS is now increasing the premium processing fee to adjust for inflation from June 2021 through June 2023 as per the Consumer Price Index(CPI) related to all urban consumers in the US. DHS has the authority to adjust the fees every two years, and they are leveraging that provision to increase the fees.
USCIS Premium Processing Fee Changes from 2024
Below are the key points related to the USCIS premium processing fee increase:
Fee Increase based on CPI-U Percentage:
- The USCIS premium processing fee is increased per the changes in the Consumer Price Index Urban(CPI-U).
- The CPI-U increased by 12.3 percent between June 2021 and June 2023.
- The USCIS premium processing fee is increased by 12.3 percent, corresponding to the increase in CPI-U. This fee increase will be effective from February 2024.
- Example: If the current premium processing fee is $1500, the new premium processing fee with a 12.3 percent increase would come to $1,685.
- If we compare the fee increase from the previous time, this is not that much. The last increase fee was almost 70% when the premium processing fee went up from $1,440 to $2,550. The fee increase is now adjusted to inflation and nominal with 12.3 percent.
USCIS New Premium Processing Effective from Feb 26, 2024
USCIS says the new premium processing fee will be effective from February 26, 2024. Any applications filed on or after Feb 26, 2024, should include a fee check corresponding to the new increased fees.
USCIS updated their I-907 Form and all their webpages, indicating the Premium Processing Fee increase that is applicable from Feb 26, 2024. See the screenshot below and the new form
Starting April 26th, they will only accept the new form that has “02/26/24” as the edition. See the below screenshot of the actual FORM I-907 with details of the new edition that reads “Edition 02/26/24”.
Processing Time: There are no changes to premium processing time or SLA. It continues to be 15 calendar days for most form types and 30 calendar days in some cases.
Official Regulation: USCIS has published a final rule in the federal register with the premium processing fee changes for 2024.
Let’s look at the exact fee increases by the visa type and the form used
Premium Processing Fee Changes by USCIS Application Type
Below is a table that summarizes the premium processing fee increases by the USCIS Form Type, the relevant Visa Category that it applies to:
| Form Type | Petition/ Application Visa Category | Current Fee | New Fee from Feb 26, 2024 |
| Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | H1B, H-3, L1A, L1B, LZ, E1, E2, E3, O1, O2, P1, P1S, P2, P2S, P3, P3S, Q1 TN1, TN2 | $2500 | $2,805 |
| Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker | H-2B R-1 | $1500 | $1,685 |
| Form I-140, Immigrant Petition (Green Card) for Alien Worker | Employment-Based: EB-1 (E11, E12, E13), EB-2 (E21, NIW & non-NIW), EB-3 (E31, E32, EW3) | $2500 | $2,805 |
| Form I-539, Application to Extend or Change Nonimmigrant Status (COS) | F1, F2 M1, M2 J1, J2, E1, E2, E3 L2, H4, O3, P4, R2 | $1,750 | $1,965 |
| Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization(EAD) | Certain F1 Students EAD Category Codes: C03A, C03B, C03C | $1,500 | $1,685 |
Common FAQs
The new premium processing fee will be effective starting from February 26th, 2024
To address the costs associated with inflation, they are increasing the fee. They would use the additional revenue for improving operations and better processing.
Yes, USIC has a new form I-907 with a new edition that reads “Edition 02/26/24”. Starting April 26, 2024, USCIS will only accept the new form with “02/26/24 edition”
USCIS will reject the application for premium processing and return the filing fee.
USCIS will consider the postmark date by the commercial courier(such as UPS, DHL, or FedEx) for the new fee.
The USCIS Premium Processing fee for the H1B Visa FY 2025 Season is $2,805. The old fee will not be applicable for the FY 2025 season because the H1B season starts from April 1st, 2024.
What do you think of the new premium processing fee changes?
Reference: USCIS New Alert on Premium Processing Fee Increase