The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will implement an increase in various immigration processing fees beginning on January 1, 2026, as part of an annual inflation adjustment mandated by the law H.R. 1.
The measure, published in the Federal Register on November 20, 2025, addresses the increase in the cost of living recorded between July 2024 and July 2025. From now on, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will implement a similar adjustment each fiscal year, based on variations in the inflation index.
Main increments
The new fees will impact key forms such as the Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765), whose initial fee will increase from $550 to $560. Renewals or extensions of work permits under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will rise from $275 to $280, and the TPS Application (Form I-821) will go up from $500 to $510.
The costs for the temporary stay permit (Form I-131) will also be adjusted, though to a lesser extent, increasing from $275 to $280. In contrast, other forms —such as I-589, related to asylum applications, and I-360 for special immigrant juveniles— will keep their fees unchanged, at $100 and $250 respectively.
Annual adjustment and mandatory compliance
The increases range between two and ten dollars in most cases. USCIS emphasized that any application for immigration benefits postmarked starting January 1, 2026, must include the new fee, or it will be rejected.
The inflation adjustment is part of an annual review policy aimed at maintaining the financial self-sufficiency of the agency and compensating for the rising operational costs resulting from processing millions of applications each year. The U.S. government recommends that applicants check the updated fees before submitting any forms.
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