The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will increase fees for several immigration applications from October 16, 2026, affecting asylum applicants, employment authorisation applicants, immigration parole beneficiaries and people seeking Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The revised charges are part of an annual inflation adjustment to certain immigration fees established under H.R. 1, according to updated USCIS guidance.
The increases range from $3 to $30, depending on the immigration benefit being sought.
USCIS said the new fees will apply to applications postmarked on or after October 16, 2026.
The annual adjustment will affect several applications commonly used by foreign nationals in the United States.
The annual asylum application fee will rise from $102 to $105, an increase of $3.
The largest increase among the affected fees will apply to the immigration parole fee for Form I-131, which will rise by $30, from $1,020 to $1,050.
Applicants seeking an initial Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) through Form I-765 will also face higher charges.
For asylum applicants, the initial EAD fee will increase from $560 to $570. The same $570 fee will apply to initial employment authorisation applications by parole and TPS applicants, up from $560.
Meanwhile, the fee for Form I-821, used to apply for Temporary Protected Status, will rise from $510 to $520.
The Department of Homeland Security said the adjustments reflect inflation between July 2025 and July 2026.
For applicants preparing to file, the date an application is postmarked will determine whether the old or new fee applies.
Applications postmarked before October 16, 2026 will be subject to the applicable existing fee, while those postmarked on or after the effective date must include the revised amount.
USCIS has warned that applications submitted with an incorrect filing fee may be rejected.
Applicants therefore need to verify the applicable fee before mailing or submitting affected applications, particularly around the October 16 transition date.
The latest adjustment follows several changes to U.S. immigration fees introduced since 2025.
In July 2025, the U.S. introduced new immigration charges under H.R. 1 covering asylum, parole, employment authorisation, and TPS applications. The changes included a $100 asylum application fee, a $550 initial EAD fee and an increase in the TPS application fee from $50 to $500.
The fees were subsequently adjusted from January 1, 2026, under the first annual inflation adjustment required by H.R. 1. At the time, the asylum fee rose from $100 to $102, while initial EAD applications for asylum, parole and TPS applicants increased from $550 to $560. The TPS application fee also rose from $500 to $510.
The U.S. also introduced a separate $1,000 immigration parole fee in October 2025, adding another cost for eligible foreign nationals using certain humanitarian and public-benefit parole programmes.
The October 2026 adjustment means applicants using these immigration pathways will face another increase in the cost of filing for some benefits.
For Nigerians and other foreign nationals in the U.S., the changes underscore the importance of checking the latest USCIS fee schedule and filing requirements before submitting an application, as an incorrect payment can result in the application being rejected or returned.
