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US announces new immigration fees from October 16: What applicants need to know about the latest changes
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will increase several immigration-related fees from October 16, 2026, under an annual inflation adjustment.
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US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will increase several immigration-related fees from October 16, 2026, under an annual inflation adjustment mandated by the H.R. 1 reconciliation law, with higher charges applying to certain asylum, employment authorization, temporary protected status (TPS) and immigration parole requests.
The fee increases are relatively small and reflect inflation between July 2025 and July 2026, USCIS said in an alert published on September 30. The new rates will apply to requests postmarked on or after October 16, 2026.
Applicants and petitioners who use one of the affected benefits will have to submit the new fee from that date. USCIS said requests sent on or after October 16 without the correct filing fee will be rejected.
USCIS immigration fee changes from October 16
The annual asylum application fee will rise from $102 to $105, a $3 increase.
The immigration parole fee associated with Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, will increase from $1,020 to $1,050.
USCIS will also raise the fee for an initial employment authorization document (EAD) application filed by certain applicants. The fee for an initial EAD for asylum applicants, parolees and Temporary Protected Status applicants will rise from $560 to $570.
For Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, the fee will increase from $510 to $520.
The changes cover only the specific immigration-related fees listed in the fiscal year 2027 inflation adjustment. They do not represent a broad increase across all USCIS immigration filing fees.
Why USCIS is increasing the fees
The increases stem from provisions of H.R. 1, which required certain immigration-related fees implemented in fiscal year 2026 to be adjusted annually for inflation.
USCIS said the Department of Homeland Security is required to make the adjustments for each subsequent fiscal year. The fiscal 2027 adjustment accounts for inflation from July 2025 through July 2026.
USCIS had first announced implementation of the H.R. 1 immigration-related fees in a July 2025 Federal Register notice.
The fiscal 2027 inflation-adjusted fees were published in a Federal Register notice and will take effect on October 16.
A request postmarked before October 16 will be subject to the previous fee, while requests postmarked on or after that date must include the new amount, according to USCIS.
Applicants should therefore check the applicable fee before mailing an affected request to avoid rejection for an incorrect payment.
