The new regulation that would have increased USCIS filing fees by a weighted average of 21%, among other changes, has been enjoined by a federal court as of late on Tuesday, September 29th. We wrote about the new regulation in August on this post.

This means that the new regulation, with the new USCIS filing fees, new premium processing timeline, some revised USCIS forms, etc. is not going into effect as originally planned on October 2nd.

What Does This Mean for My Case?

• If you have already filed an immigration case, your case is not affected.
• If you have a case with Sumner Immigration Law and we indicated that we would file the petition or application before the fee change came into effect, we are still planning to file on or before 10/1/2020.
• If you planned to file a case on or after 10/2/2020, such as but not limited to an employment-based I-485 filing, then as of today the current fee structure, not the new fee structure, should apply to your case.
  • More specifically, that means:
    • The N-400 fee remains $725, not the almost doubled new fee
    • The I-485 fee remains $1225, including the EAD and AP (no separate fees for the EAD and AP)
    • H-1B and L-1 extensions for employers with more than 50 employees, and at least half of those on H-1B or L-1 will not have to pay the public law fee ($4,000 for H-1Bs, $4,500 for L-1s) for H-1B/L-1 extensions

Is this permanent? If not, how long will the current fees be in effect?

This is not a permanent decision. The lawsuit, brought by a number of different organizations against DHS and USCIS is still ongoing. Further, it is possible that USCIS/DHS would appeal this injunction. The court granted the injunction because they find that it is likely that the organizations who brought the suit will succeed in the lawsuit, but that is not guaranteed. That is, it is possible that in the future, the court could decide that the new fee structure will be implemented. There is no way to tell at this point when or if that will happen.

So what fees should I submit with my filing?

As long as this injunction is effective, the current fee structure will still apply. However, you must confirm with us, or another qualified immigration attorney, before taking action. The information above is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice.

We will continue to update our clients and contacts on further developments. Attorney Emily Sumner posts late-breaking news regularly on her LinkedIn profile, as well as our other social media pages. Please feel free to follow and/or connect with her there.

If you need help navigating this process with confidence, please contact us today to get the process underway! We are immigration lawyers in Richmond, VA but we serve clients throughout the U.S. and around the world. You can call us at 804-396-3412 or send us an email to info@sumnerimmigration.com. We look forward to hearing from you.