On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule that increases the fees for many EB-5-related forms. The new fee structure will take effect starting April 1, 2024. A press release from USCIS can be read here. Just over a year ago in January 2023, USCIS published its notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) which reflected its anticipation to increase fees. Although EB-5 is not the only immigration category to see fee increases, it is seeing the highest percentage of increase per form.

Industry actors including IIUSA have labeled the fee increases as extreme and unfounded. Moreover, USCIS has implemented increased fees without a fee study for these increases describing how such fee increases will improve visa processing, which is required by statute in the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.

Nevertheless, USCIS fees increases are on the horizon. The final fee rules have remained exactly as they were proposed in the NPRM. A chart is below to visualize the current fees, the increased fees, and the percentage of that increase.

Donoso & Partners is working with our clients to submit new I-526E petitions prior to April 1, 2024 to avoid increased USCIS filing fees.

USCIS will hold a public engagement on this topic on Thursday, February 22 from 2-3pm ET. You can register for the event here.

Donoso & Partners, a leading immigration law firm based in Washington, D.C., will continue to report on developments regarding the immigration law and policy through our news section of donosolaw.com.