USCIS fee increases expected in October met with lawsuits

On August 3, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Final Rule that significantly alters the USCIS fee schedule by adjusting fees, adding new fees, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions, and limiting the number of beneficiaries for certain forms.  These new fees are set to take effect on October 2, 2020.

Since then, two lawsuits were filed challenging the fee hikes and related actions. On August 20, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and eight other organizations sued USCIS over the agency’s fee rule, which raises application fees for many essential immigration benefits by 30 to 200 percent, and eliminates most fee waivers for qualifying low income immigrants

On August 21, additional advocacy groups including Public Citizen, on behalf of immigrant advocacy groups Ayuda, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and CASA de Maryland, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that USCIS’s new fee rule will unlawfully force immigrants seeking naturalization, asylum, employment authorization, and humanitarian protections to pay high fees. The plaintiffs request that the court set aside the new fee rule on the ground that Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, who approved it, is ineligible to serve in that position (see next news update below). Plaintiffs also contend that the rule is based on incomplete and unsupported justifications, violates several provisions of the INA, and failed to comply with the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The lawsuit amends an existing lawsuit challenging DHS’s October 2019 revisions to the standards applicable to individuals seeking fee waivers. (Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, et al. v. USCIS, et al., 8/21/20)

Iandoli Desai & Cronin PC will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates when available.