USCIS Raises Six Fees Effective October 16: Asylum Annual Fee $105, Initial EAD $570; Filings With Wrong Fees Will Be Rejected
Washington — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has raised six immigration-related fees effective October 16, 2026, under a notice published in the Federal Register. The new amounts apply to benefit requests postmarked on or after October 16. USCIS said any request postmarked on or after that date without the proper filing fee will be rejected; the parole fee follows the date parole is granted rather than the postmark.
The increases cover a set of fees established under the H.R. 1 law, which requires them to be adjusted for inflation each fiscal year. The fiscal 2027 amounts reflect a 3.36 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers between July 2025 and July 2026, with most fees rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $10. The annual fee charged while an asylum application remains pending rises from $102 to $105. The Form I-131 immigration parole fee rises from $1,020 to $1,050. The initial Form I-765 employment authorization (EAD) fee — for asylum applicants, parolees and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applicants — rises from $560 to $570. The Form I-821 TPS application fee rises from $510 to $520.
USCIS noted that several fees are unchanged: the initial Form I-589 asylum application fee remains $100, the Special Immigrant Juvenile fee remains $250, the Form I-94 fee remains $24, and EAD renewal fees are unchanged. The agency described the adjustments as minor, inflation-only changes that do not alter eligibility rules for any benefit.
Two travel-related charges adjusted at the same time: U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) enrollment fee rose from $30.75 to $31.75 - EVUS applies to holders of Chinese passports with 10-year B1/B2 visas - and the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) fee rose from $40.27 to $40.62.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于纽约市皇后区牙买加的移民局申请支持中心（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Tdorante10 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权 / Photo: A USCIS Application Support Center in Jamaica, Queens, New York (file photo). Source: Wikimedia Commons, by Tdorante10, CC BY-SA 4.0.
