Fiscal Year 2027 Inflation Adjustment to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Immigration Fees

Fiscal Year 2027 Inflation Adjustment to H.R. 1 Immigration Fees

DATES:

The fees announced in this notice are effective on or after October 16, 2026. Any immigration benefit request postmarked on or after October 16, 2026 without the proper filing fee will be rejected.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Abbreviations

BLS-U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

CPI-U-Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

DHS-Department of Homeland Security

EAD-Employment Authorization Document

FY-Fiscal Year

H.R. 1-One Big Beautiful Bill Act

INA-Immigration and Nationality Act

TPS-Temporary Protected Status

USCIS-U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

I. Background and Authority

H.R. 1-One Big Beautiful Bill Act

On July 4, 2025, the President signed into law H.R. 1-One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (H.R. 1), a comprehensive legislative package that amended various laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Among its changes, H.R. 1 introduced new immigration fees as minimum amounts for FY 2025, authorized agencies to adjust them through rulemaking, and mandated annual updates based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). See H.R. 1, Title X, Subtitle A, Part I, Sections 100001 through 100018. The fees are codified at 8 U.S.C. Chapter 16. On July 22, 2025, USCIS published a Federal Register Notice announcing the implementation of these fees. See USCIS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill, 90 FR 34511 (July 22, 2025) (notice). Following the initial implementation, USCIS issued additional regulatory actions to operationalize H.R. 1's requirements and ensure compliance with its annual inflation adjustment mandate. Next, on October 16, 2025, DHS announced the implementation of the parole fee established in H.R. 1 of $1,000 for any alien who is paroled into the United States who does not meet an exception. Immigration Parole Fee Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill, 90 FR 48317 (Oct. 16, 2025) (notice). Additionally, on November 21, 2025, USCIS published a Federal Register Notice detailing the inflationary adjustment to H.R. 1 immigration fees for Fiscal Year 2026. See Inflation Adjustment to HR-1 Immigration Fees, 90 FR 52693 (Nov. 21, 2025) (notice). This notice provided the methodology for calculating the annual adjustment, based on the percentage change in the CPI-U from July 2024 to July 2025 and specified the new fee amounts effective January 1, 2026. The notice also clarified the rounding rules mandated by H.R. 1, requiring fees to be rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $10 or, for certain fees, to the nearest dollar. Id. at 52694. On April 29, 2026, DHS issued an interim final rule further detailing the procedures and requirements for the collection of H.R. 1 fees and clarifying operational aspects of fee implementation, including consequences for fee nonpayment. See USCIS Immigration Fees and Related Procedures Required by H.R.1 Reconciliation Bill, 91 FR 22952 (Apr. 29, 2026) (interim final rule). The interim final rule addressed procedural updates, including guidance for applicants and petitioners, payment instructions, and the handling of fee waivers and exemptions. After the interim final rule published, DHS issued a correction restoring text that had been inadvertently removed in 8 CFR 208.7(a). See USCIS Immigration Fees and Related Procedures Required by H.R.1 Reconciliation Bill; Correction, 91 FR 45637 (July 21, 2026) (correcting amendment).

These regulatory actions collectively establish the operational framework for the collection and adjustment of H.R. 1 immigration fees. They ensure that the fee schedule remains current, transparent, and consistent with statutory requirements, and provide clear guidance to applicants, petitioners, and other stakeholders on the procedures for submitting immigration benefit requests and associated fees required by H.R. 1.

H.R. 1 requires that DHS, beginning in FY 2026 and continuing for each subsequent fiscal year, adjust the immigration-related fees for inflation. H.R. 1 prescribes that DHS use the percentage change to the CPI-U for the month of July in the current year compared to the preceding calendar year and round each fee to the next lowest multiple of $10 or, in some instances, down to the nearest dollar as authorized by H.R. 1. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. 1802(c), 1803(a)(3), 1808(b)(2)(B).

II. Basis for Adjustment

In accordance with the provisions outlined in H.R. 1, most fees established for various immigration-related applications and benefit requests are subject to annual inflation adjustments. USCIS calculated these adjustments using the percentage change in the CPI-U from July 2025 to July 2026, with most fees "rounded to the next lowest multiple of $10" as required by H.R. 1. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. 1802(c). H.R. 1 specifies that the Annual Asylum Fee is adjusted for inflation and rounded down to the nearest "dollar." See U.S.C. 1808(b)(2)(B). This approach aligns with H.R. 1 requirements to use the percentage change in CPI-U from the "month of July preceding the date on which such adjustment takes effect . . . for the same month of the preceding calendar year." Id. In July 2025, the CPI-U was 323.048 and in July 2026 it was 333.918. ⁽¹⁾ Therefore, between July 2025 and July 2026, the CPI-U increased by approximately 3.36 percent. ⁽²⁾ When this percentage increase is applied to the current (FY 2026) H.R. 1 fees and rounded to the next lowest $10 increment, some fees increase by $10. Some fees do not change because the inflation adjusted amount is equal to the current fee when rounded to the next lowest $10 increment. Table 1 summarizes the H.R. 1 fees which USCIS collects, including changes for FY 2027.

For the fees outlined in this notice, the statute clearly states that agencies should round inflation adjustments down to the nearest dollar or, in most cases, to the "next lowest multiple of $10." Consistent with the statute and the previous inflationary adjustment, see 90 FR 52693, 52695, when applicable, USCIS is rounding down to the next lowest multiple of $10 increment rather than rounding to the nearest $10 increment.

The methodology USCIS used ensures that fees keep pace with inflation as enacted by Congress in H.R. 1. ⁽⁴⁾

III. Effective Date and Implementation

USCIS will require the filing fees for FY 2027 established in this notice for any immigration benefit requests postmarked on or after October 16, 2026. Because DHS believes this provides adequate time needed for DHS and USCIS to issue guidance on and operationalize the change in the required fees, and for the public to adapt their immigration benefit requests that are in process to the changes, requests postmarked on or after October 16, 2026 without the proper filing fee will be rejected. DHS has determined that the policy required by this notice is the most equitable path forward to collect H.R. 1 fees for FY 2027 as expeditiously as practicable for the fees administered by USCIS. DHS may codify the annual fee adjustments covered by this notice in 8 CFR part 106 in a future rule.

⁽¹⁾ See U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), CPI-U Series Id CUUR0000SA0, https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0 (last visited Aug. 12, 2026).

^{(2 )}  DHS calculated this by subtracting the July 2025 CPI-U (323.048) from the July 2026 CPI-U (333.918), then dividing the result (10.87) by the July 2025 CPI-U (323.048). Calculation: (333.918−323.048)/323.048 = 0.0336 × 100 = 3.36 percent.

^{(3 )}  H.R. 1 does not provide for inflationary adjustments to the fee relating to renewal or extension of employment authorization for asylum applicants. See 8 U.S.C. 1810.

⁽⁴⁾ See e.g., 8 U.S.C. 1802(c).