On October 1, 2026, USCIS published the annual adjustment of immigration fees created by the H.R. 1 law (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) for fiscal year 2027. The new fees take effect on October 16, 2026, with a 3.36% adjustment based on inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) between July 2025 and July 2026. Anyone filing a request on or after that date needs to include the new form fee amount.
What happened?
The H.R. 1 law requires USCIS to update, every year, a specific group of immigration fees based on inflation. In this round, the agency applied the 3.36% adjustment and published the table with fiscal year 2027 amounts. The notice was published in the Federal Register and applies to requests postmarked October 16, 2026, or later.
What changes in practice?
If you're sending one of the affected forms, the fee that accompanies your request depends on the date it is mailed. A request filed on or after October 16, 2026, without the correct benefit fee is rejected. A request mailed before that date still uses the fiscal year 2026 amount. The fee must match the specific benefit you're requesting — there isn't a single fee that applies to all forms. That's why it's worth checking the table before sealing the envelope or completing the online submission.
Which fees are changing — and to what amount?
The fiscal year 2027 amounts, compared to fiscal year 2026, are as follows:
- Annual fee for pending asylum application (Form I-589): from $102 to $105.
- Initial work authorization (Form I-765) for asylum applicants, parole, and TPS: from $560 to $570. EAD renewal and extension remain at $280.
- Temporary Protected Status (Form I-821): from $510 to $520.
- Immigration parole (Form I-131): from $1,020 to $1,050.
The initial asylum application fee ($100) and the Form I-94 fee ($24) remain unchanged.
Who is affected?
The adjustment affects anyone filing, on or after October 16, one of the forms in the table — especially asylum applications (I-589), work authorization (I-765), TPS (I-821), and parole (I-131) requests. If your request was already mailed before that date, it isn't subject to the new amount. The 3.36% adjustment applies as the same percentage across the entire table, but in dollar terms the increase varies by form — from $3 on the annual asylum fee to $30 on parole.
What's the next date and how do I submit with the correct fee?
The date that matters is October 16, 2026: that's when the fiscal year 2027 table becomes mandatory. To submit with the correct amount:
- Confirm in the official USCIS notice what the fee is for the form you're filing.
- Compare your request's mailing date to October 16, 2026: from that day on, use the fiscal year 2027 amount.
- Check the current edition of the form before submitting, since the wrong edition causes the request to be returned.
- If it's a work authorization request, plan your renewal ahead of time, since automatic EAD extension has ended.
This adjustment is separate from the adjustment to immigration court (EOIR) form fees that has been in effect since October 1. Check out other immigration topics on the Prime blog.
Sources
- Federal Register — Fiscal Year 2027 Inflation Adjustment to H.R. 1 Immigration Fees (10/1/2026)
- USCIS — FY 2027 inflation increase for certain immigration-related fees
Educational information, not legal advice. Prime Immigration Office is a paralegal service — document preparation only. For legal advice, consult a licensed Texas attorney or DOJ-accredited representative.