USCIS Extends and Expands Fee Exemptions and Expedited Processing for Afghan Nationals

On November 22, 2022, USCIS announced it is extending and expanding filing fee exemptions and expedited application processing for certain Afghan nationals (previously announced on November 8, 2021). This is intended to assist Afghan nationals as they resettle, and in many cases reunite with family, in the United States by enabling USCIS to process their requests for work authorization, long-term status, status for immediate relatives, and associated services more quickly. USCIS encourages interested parties to use the webpages listed below to learn more about the eligibility details for each type of filing.

Certain Afghan nationals are eligible for the following fee exemptions and expedited processing, through Sept. 30, 2023:

• Fee Exemptions

  • An initial or replacement Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, for Afghan nationals who are applying for work authorization on the basis of parole (eligibility category (c)(11));

  • Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, to adjust status on the basis of Afghan special immigrant classification, and any associated Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility;

  • Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, filed with USCIS in the United States on behalf of any Afghan national (beneficiary) with a visa immediately available;

  • Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, for an Afghan holding a Special Immigrant Visa;

  • Form I-601 for any Afghan national with an approved Form I-130 with a visa immediately available; and

  • USCIS Immigrant Fee (Form I-551) for Afghan nationals.

• Expedited Processing:

  • An initial and replacement Form I-765 for those applying for employment authorization on the basis of parole (eligibility category (c)(11));

  • Form I-485 for Afghan nationals seeking to adjust status on the basis of Afghan special immigrant classification, and any associated Form I-601;

  • Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, filed by certain Afghan parolees as described in Section 2502(a) of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act;

  • Form I-130, filed with USCIS in the United States on behalf of an Afghan national (beneficiary) with a visa immediately available, and any associated Form I-601; and

  • Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, filed with USCIS on behalf of an Afghan national (beneficiary) with a visa immediately available.

USCIS’s Information for Afghan Nationals webpage has additional information for Afghan nationals.