Effective October 1st, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased the premium processing fee from $1225 to $1410 for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigration Petition for Alien Workers.

Premium Processing is an optional service which allows petitioners or attorneys to request 15-day processing of certain employment based petitions and applications, such as Form I-129 or Form I-140. In addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, the premium processing service requires an additional fee which cannot be waived.

Announced on August 31st, 2018

The premium processing fee was set to be increased by 14.92%, raising the price from $1225 to $1410. In accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the adjustment in price reflects the percentage change in inflation between disparate years.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates an additional annual $44 million in revenue to be generated from the increased premium processing fee. As a result of the fee increase, USCIS intends to make a series of infrastructure improvements, particularly within the adjudications and customer service processes.

It also projects to hire additional staff and make investments in information technology systems to facilitate the provision of premium processing services.