Effective January 1, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented its annual inflation adjustment under H.R. 1, increasing fees for several high-volume applications. The Employment Authorization Document (Form I-765) now costs US$560 for initial filings and US$280 for renewals in many categories, while the Temporary Protected Status application (Form I-821) rises to US$510. The rarely-used annual asylum application fee edges up to US$102.
Although most increases are modest—between US$2 and US$10—the change coincides with record application volumes. Employers filing hundreds of EAD renewals for F-1 STEM OPT graduates, L-2 spouses and humanitarian parolees will see budget impacts immediately. Applicants who send outdated fee amounts risk rejection and the loss of critical work authorization or status maintenance.
![USCIS Raises Key Filing Fees as FY 2026 Inflation Adjustment Takes Effect]()
In this context, VisaHQ can streamline the process for both corporate mobility teams and individual applicants by providing real-time fee updates, digital document checklists, and courier coordination through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/). Leveraging these tools reduces the risk of lock-box rejections and keeps fee budgeting accurate as USCIS adjustments roll out.
USCIS has not adjusted several headline fees, such as the I-589 asylum filing fee or the Special Immigrant Juvenile petition, but the agency signalled a broader fee-review is forthcoming once new cost-recovery regulations are finalised. Foreign national employees should confirm that payroll deduction or reimbursement workflows reflect the new figures.
Practically, in-house mobility teams should update checklists, legal fee tables and employee-facing intranet pages today. Courier services should be instructed to include separate cheques or credit-card authorisation forms with the revised totals to avoid lock-box rejections—an especially costly delay as H-1B cap-season pre-registrations loom in March 2026.
Although most increases are modest—between US$2 and US$10—the change coincides with record application volumes. Employers filing hundreds of EAD renewals for F-1 STEM OPT graduates, L-2 spouses and humanitarian parolees will see budget impacts immediately. Applicants who send outdated fee amounts risk rejection and the loss of critical work authorization or status maintenance.
In this context, VisaHQ can streamline the process for both corporate mobility teams and individual applicants by providing real-time fee updates, digital document checklists, and courier coordination through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/). Leveraging these tools reduces the risk of lock-box rejections and keeps fee budgeting accurate as USCIS adjustments roll out.
USCIS has not adjusted several headline fees, such as the I-589 asylum filing fee or the Special Immigrant Juvenile petition, but the agency signalled a broader fee-review is forthcoming once new cost-recovery regulations are finalised. Foreign national employees should confirm that payroll deduction or reimbursement workflows reflect the new figures.
Practically, in-house mobility teams should update checklists, legal fee tables and employee-facing intranet pages today. Courier services should be instructed to include separate cheques or credit-card authorisation forms with the revised totals to avoid lock-box rejections—an especially costly delay as H-1B cap-season pre-registrations loom in March 2026.
