USCIS Issues Q&A on New Fee Schedule; Makes Corrections, Clarifications

The new fee schedule for immigration-related applications and petitions took effect on November 23, 2010. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Q&A that notes, among other things, that if mailed through a courier service, the date the item is entered into the courier’s service system is considered the postmark date. Also, USCIS noted in an alert issued November 19, 2010, that the agency previously indicated that the last day for accepting previous edition dates of the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Form I-129, was December 21, 2010. “This was a miscalculation. The last day USCIS will accept previous editions of the form I-129 is December 22, 2010,” the alert stated.

Meanwhile, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reported on November 19, 2010, that USCIS has confirmed that a receipt notice from a courier service or overnight mailing service will be considered a “postmark” for fee determination purposes.

USCIS has also corrected the new fee for refugee travel documents. As discussed in the preamble to the final rule, the agency had determined that the fee for a refugee travel document for an adult age 16 or older should match the fee charged for the issuance of a passport to a U.S. citizen ($110 plus a $25 execution fee). 75 FR at 58964, 58972. Accordingly, USCIS intended to reduce the fee for filing an Application for Travel Document, Form I-131, for refugees to $135 for an adult age 16 or older. The final rule inadvertently listed a fee of $165 for the I-131 refugee travel document for an adult age 16 or older. No other changes were made under this correction.

See Also:

• Q&A
• USCIS alert (PDF)
• A table listing the old and new fees