USCIS to now reject applications without new H.R. 1 fees

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a reminder on new immigration fees introduced under the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill. Applicants must include the updated fees with benefit requests postmarked on or after July 22, 2025. Any request sent on or after August 21, 2025, without the proper fees will be rejected.

The Federal Register Notice explains that the new fees are in addition to existing USCIS charges. A portion of the revenue will go to the Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA), while the rest will be deposited into the Treasury’s general fund. DHS is required to adjust these fees annually for inflation.

What H.R. 1 fees mean
The term H.R. 1 fees refers to the new immigration charges created under the H.R. 1 Reconciliation Bill. These are additional filing fees that applicants must pay for certain immigration forms and benefits, such as asylum applications, work permits, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Special Immigrant Juvenile petitions.

Unlike existing USCIS fees, the H.R. 1 fees are mandatory. They cannot be waived, reduced, or replaced by current fee waiver rules. They must also be paid in addition to the regular USCIS filing fees.

The money collected is divided: a portion goes to USCIS’s Immigration Examinations Fee Account (IEFA) to support processing, and the rest goes to the US Treasury. By law, DHS must also raise these H.R. 1 fees each year to match inflation.

Key fees include:

• Form I-589 (Asylum Application): $100.
  
  
• Annual Asylum Fee (AAF): $100 each year an application remains pending, payable online.
  
  
• Form I-765 (Employment Authorization Document for asylum, parolee, and TPS categories):
  
  
  • $550 for initial applications.
    
    
  • $275 for renewals or extensions.
    
    
  • $275 when linked to a re-parole request.
    
    
• Form I-360 (Special Immigrant Juvenile): $250.
  
  
• Form I-821 (Temporary Protected Status): raised from $50 to $500.
  
  

Asylum applicants who filed after October 1, 2024, will be required to pay the Annual Asylum Fee starting on the one-year anniversary of their filing and every year thereafter until their application is resolved. USCIS will send personal notices with payment instructions and deadlines.

The validity of employment authorization has also been revised. For parolees, authorization will be valid for no more than one year or the length of the parole, whichever is shorter. For TPS holders, initial and renewal authorizations will be limited to one year or the duration of TPS status.

USCIS clarified that these H.R. 1 fees do not replace existing fees but must be paid in addition. While existing USCIS fees may qualify for a waiver under Form I-912, the new H.R. 1 fees are not eligible for waivers or reductions.

Some fees under H.R. 1 are not part of this notice. DHS will announce separate implementation dates for Form I-131 (Travel Documents) and Form I-102 (Replacement Arrival-Departure Document).