The USCIS Adjusts EB-5 Filing Fees for Investors and Regional Centers FY 2021

Today, to ensure U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recovers its costs of services, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a final rule that adjusts fees for EB-5 investors and Regional Centers and other immigration and naturalization benefit requests.

This fee adjustment follows the USCIS’s testimony before a Congressional Judiciary Committee subcommittee this week. During testimony, the agency requested nearly $ 1.5 Billion in supplementary funding from Congress to cover a shortfall in fee receipts resulting from a lower number of filings in the 2020 fiscal year.

EB-5 Investors will see modest increases in the fees for the I-526 and I-829 filings while regional centres annual I-924-A filing fee will jump by 47%.

Differing from most government agencies the USCIS is primarily funded by user fees.  DHS claims the USCIS is underfunded by about $1 billion per year and is adjusting USCIS fees by a weighted average increase of 20% to help recover its operational costs. The final rule and fee changes become effective Oct. 2, 2020.

https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-adjusts-fees-to-help-meet-operational-needs