UPDATE: Notable Fee Increases at US Citizenship & Immigration Services

Earlier this month, we released a blog on notable fee increases published by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for applications filed with the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). The fee increase was a result of the USCIS biennial fee review to assess current fee structures against the costs of providing its services, which ultimately led to a steep fee increase on some of the most popular petitions and applications and even longer wait times for those who pay for premium processing services for quicker responses.

On September 29, 2020, a US District Court Judge from the Northern District of California enjoined the DHS, USCIS, and other officials serving in those agencies from implementing or enforcing the final rule or any portion thereof. This preliminary injunction is in effect nationwide and prevents the fee increase that would have otherwise gone into effect this Friday.

We expect a higher court ruling in the days to come and will update accordingly! Stay tuned.