USCIS Increases I-907 Premium Processing Filing Fee Starting November 29, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that they are increasing the I-907 premium processing service filing fee by $30 from $1,410 to $1,440.   The new premium processing filing fee increase will become effective for all requests mailed, postmarked or otherwise filed on or after November 29, 2019.   Under the optional premium processing service USCIS is required to provide a response within 15 calendar days to most (but not all) employment-based I-129 and I-140 petitions.

Rationale of Fee Increase

The USCIS announcement seeks to justify the $30 increase based on consumer price index increase since the last time this fee was adjusted in 2010.

This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, reflects the full amount of inflation from the implementation of the premium processing fee in June 2001 through August 2019 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). USCIS last increased the fee in 2018.

Conclusion

We hope that the fee increase would allow USCIS to be able to increase staffing levels and to increase the level of service, especially in light of recent trends of extremely high request for evidence (“RFE”) rates for certain types of cases, most notably H-1B petitions.

We urge our clients to consider making plans to file any upcoming premium processing applications before the new fee becomes effective on November 29, 2019 or to plan for the additional fee.  We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics. We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about this USCIS fee increase.