USCIS Announces Premium Processing Fee Increases Effective March 1, 2026

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have finalized a new rule increasing the fees for premium processing of certain immigration benefit requests. This inflation-based adjustment, required under the USCIS Stabilization Act, takes effect for all Form I-907 Premium Processing Service requests postmarked on or after March 1, 2026.

Under the updated fee schedule, the premium processing fee paid with an I-907 request will increase across the eligible classifications, reflecting changes in the Consumer Price Index since the last adjustment. The new I-907 fees will be:

• Form I-129 (nonimmigrant workers, including H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, E-3): $2,965.
• Form I-140 (immigrant petitions for workers): $2,965.
• Form I-539 (change/extension of status for F, J, M classifications): $2,075.
• Form I-765 (employment authorization, including OPT/STEM): $1,780.
• Form I-129 for H-2B or R-1 classifications: $1,780.

These increased fees must be included with any I-907 filed on or after the effective date, and USCIS will reject requests submitted with incorrect fees. These fees are in addition to the regular USCIS filing fees for each case type.

Implications for Clients: As always, premium processing does not guarantee approval but requires USCIS action within specified timeframes or a refund of the premium processing fee if those timeframes are missed. From our experience with previous filing fee increases, there may be a significant number of filings requesting premium processing before the new fee goes into effect. We anticipate RFE rates to remain elevated, or possibly increase in the coming months, as USCIS continues its heightened scrutiny of filings, and immigration officers may be unable to timely review the cases within the required premium processing timeframe, leading to issuance of RFEs instead of refunds.