Starting today, November 1, 2025, applicants for adjustment of status (Form I-485) are receiving electronic notices in the myUSCIS portal requiring payment of a new $1,000 “Immigration Parole Fee” before advance-parole travel documents can be granted or revalidated. The fee stems from the 2024 budget-reconciliation act, but implementation details were scarce until the first wave of notices appeared overnight.
The fee applies each time DHS grants parole under INA §212(d)(5), meaning even renewals and re-entries will trigger additional $1,000 charges. USCIS confirms that payment is due only after approval, not at I-131 filing, but applicants must settle invoices within 30 days or risk revocation.
![USCIS Begins Issuing $1,000 Advance-Parole Fee Notices to Adjustment Applicants]()
Advance parole is a lifeline for adjustment applicants, allowing international travel while a green-card case is pending. Employers routinely rely on it to move intracompany transferees and project staff overseas for short assignments. The new cost could add thousands of dollars to relocation budgets, especially for families needing multiple documents.
Corporate immigration teams should update cost forecasts and counsel employees to delay non-essential travel until the payment portal stabilizes—early users report glitches and duplicate charges. Companies who reimburse immigration fees may need to adjust taxable-benefit gross-up calculations.
Advocacy groups argue the surcharge exceeds actual processing costs and may be challenged in court, but for now USCIS says it is mandatory and non-refundable. Applicants who paid earlier filing fees will not receive credit toward the parole fee. Mobility managers should circulate step-by-step payment guides and remind travelers that departing the United States without approved—and now paid-for—parole voids the underlying I-485.
The fee applies each time DHS grants parole under INA §212(d)(5), meaning even renewals and re-entries will trigger additional $1,000 charges. USCIS confirms that payment is due only after approval, not at I-131 filing, but applicants must settle invoices within 30 days or risk revocation.
Advance parole is a lifeline for adjustment applicants, allowing international travel while a green-card case is pending. Employers routinely rely on it to move intracompany transferees and project staff overseas for short assignments. The new cost could add thousands of dollars to relocation budgets, especially for families needing multiple documents.
Corporate immigration teams should update cost forecasts and counsel employees to delay non-essential travel until the payment portal stabilizes—early users report glitches and duplicate charges. Companies who reimburse immigration fees may need to adjust taxable-benefit gross-up calculations.
Advocacy groups argue the surcharge exceeds actual processing costs and may be challenged in court, but for now USCIS says it is mandatory and non-refundable. Applicants who paid earlier filing fees will not receive credit toward the parole fee. Mobility managers should circulate step-by-step payment guides and remind travelers that departing the United States without approved—and now paid-for—parole voids the underlying I-485.
