The Department of Homeland Security, as set forth in a proposed rule to be published November 14, 2019 in the Federal Register, is on course to increase application and petition fees across the board for most U.S. immigration benefits.  The increases are not insignificant.  For example, a bundled application for Adjustment of Status including biometrics and the interim benefits of employment authorization and advance parole (travel during pendency of the application), is set to increase from $1,225 presently to $2,195, an increase of 79%.  Applications for naturalization to U.S. citizenship are set to increase from $640 presently to $1,170, an 83% increase.  Employment petitions on form I-129 are set to rise $200 for H-1B Specialty Occupation petitions and $355 for R-1 Religious Worker petitions, however DHS lack the statutory authority to increase Fraud Detection & Prevention fees, so by comparison, employment-based petition fee increases are marginal compared to family-based benefit and citizenship application increases.

We’re in a decidedly different immigration environment under the Trump Admimsitration.  If you seek family-based immigration assistance or U.S. citizenship, the time to act is now.