On May 4, 2016, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) published notice of a proposal to increase certain government filing fees and create a new fee. The average increase is 21 percent, but the highest increases are for the visas used by American businesses to bring skilled workers to the United States, immigrant investors creating jobs for Americans and immigrants acknowledged to have extraordinary ability.
A 42 percent increase is proposed for the Form I-129 used for the most common work visas, including H-1B professional, O-1 extraordinary ability, and L-1 intracompany transfer visas, as well as E-1 treaty trader, E-2 treaty investor and E-3/FTA H-1B1/TN treaty professional visas processed in the United States rather than at an American consular post or Preflight Inspection Unit abroad. A 42 percent increase is also proposed for the Form I-140 used for EB1, EB2 and EB3 employment-based immigrant visas.
If 42 percent seems outrageous, the increase proposed for the Form I-526 required for an EB5 immigrant investor creating at least 10 jobs for American workers is 145 percent.
Family-based immigration fares better, with only a 27 percent increase proposed for the Form I-130 used by United States citizens and lawful permanent residents to sponsor certain close relatives to immigrate. The Form I-485 required for immigrants who process through the USCIS instead of an American consular post abroad is proposed to increase only 16 percent.
The USCIS explains that the fee increases are required to recover costs for their services and to maintain adequate service. Current service is far from adequate. Although Congress mandated USCIS processing timelines in the American Competitiveness of the 21st Century Act of 2000 (AC21), almost 16 years later the agency continues to consistently fail to meet the standards set by law.
AC21 set 30-day processing times for most employer-sponsored nonimmigrant visas and 180-day processing times for most employer-sponsored immigration. Processing times tend to be at least twice as long or worse. Instead of 30 days, five months is the processing time currently reported for Form I-129 H-1B visa extensions, for example, and the USCIS California Service Center reported that as of February 29, 2016, the agency was currently processing Form I-485 immigrant applications received before May 17, 2014!
The agency has not increased fees in many years. Proposed fee increases usually become final fee increases without significant, if any, change—most likely later this summer.
There is a 60-day comment period. Guidance on how to submit comments is in the notice. The full text of the USCIS notice can be found online at the Federal Register.
