The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) invites you to participate in a joint webinar with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on the final rule to update certain immigration and naturalization fees on Thursday, February 29, 2024 from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
On January 30, USCIS announced its new fee rule, which will go into effect on April 1, 2024. Under the rule, most fees have increased, some fees have decreased, and certain forms have new fees. This webinar will address topics including:
- New and updated fees and fee exemptions
- New form editions, deadlines, and grace periods
- The Asylum Program Fee for certain employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitioners
- Reduced fee options for naturalization applicants and people who file online
- Changes to international adoption forms
During the webinar, participants will be able to submit questions and comments. The questions and comments will be reviewed and shared with USCIS to address, as appropriate, in future engagements or through other communications.
Following the webinar, we will post a readout, the presentation, and follow-up questions and answers on our website: dhs.gov/outreach.
Why This Is Important
Approximately 96% of USCIS’ funding is from filing fees and USCIS was last able to update its fees in 2016, more than seven years ago. In 2022, we issued a formal recommendation to USCIS, The Challenges of the Current USCIS Fee-Setting Structure, that identified how USCIS’ current fee-for-service funding model leaves it chronically under-resourced and offered five recommendations to put the agency in a sound financial position to fulfill its important mission and meet its goals.
To Join
Please join the webinar on Thursday, February 29 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time by clicking on Teams Live. Registration is not required. For more information on attending a Teams event, see Microsoft’s Attend a live event in Teams page.
If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the webinar, please contact us by email at CISOmbudsman.publicaffairs@hq.dhs.gov no later than Monday, February 26, 2024. Live captions are available in Microsoft Teams, and you can learn more on the Use live captions in a Teams meeting page.
More Information
For more information on the new fee rule, visit USCIS’ Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule, Filing Fees, and Fee Schedule pages.