Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule

Key changes

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising its policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to align with the Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on January 31, 2024, and effective April 1, 2024.
• Identifies the categories of applicants and forms eligible for fee waivers or fee exemptions including temporary fee exemptions and waivers.
• Explains the eligibility requirements for fee waivers, including that an inability to pay can be established by receipt of a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or extreme financial hardship.
• Clarifies a requestor must establish eligibility for a fee waiver by a preponderance of the evidence.
• Clarifies a requestor may submit tax returns, a wage and tax statement (Internal Revenue Service Form W-2), or pay stubs to establish household income.
• Clarifies the documentary requirements for humanitarian categories of fee waiver requestors.
• Provides that a parent may use a child’s receipt of public housing as proof of inability to pay when the parent resides in the same residence.
• Clarifies when a requestor may qualify for a fee waiver based on financial hardship.
• Clarifies when a request for a fee waiver may be rejected.
• Clarifies that fees paid by credit card are generally nonrefundable, and when a check or other financial instrument used to pay a fee is returned as unpayable because of insufficient funds, USCIS rejects the filing.
• Incorporates limitations on number of beneficiaries for certain employment-based forms.
• Provides that the validity period for an Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition (Form I-600A) approval is 15 months, aligning with Hague Adoption Convention cases.
• Provides guidance for a new form supplement that prospective adoptive parents may use for requests for action on approved suitability determinations for orphan cases.