USCIS Immigrant Fee Teleconference
Archived Content
The information on this page is out of date. However, some of the content may still be useful, so we have archived the page.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invited interested individuals to participate in a stakeholder teleconference on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 8:00am (Eastern) or 12:00pm (Eastern) to discuss the implementation of the USCIS Immigrant Fee. The same engagement was held at two different times to accommodate participants domestically and abroad.
On Sept. 24, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register a Final Rule (PDF) that adjusted fees for immigration applications and petitions. This rule established a new fee of $165 for certain immigrant visas. This fee was introduced to allow USCIS to recover the costs of processing immigrant visasin the United States after immigrant visa holders receive their visa packages from the Department of State (DOS).
Beginning Feb. 1, 2013, any individual who receives an immigrant visa package from a United States consulate or embassy must pay this fee. In order to simplify and centralize the payment process, immigrant visa holders must pay online through the USCIS website after they receive their visa package from DOS and before they depart for the United States. Immigrant visa holders will receive specific information on how to submit their payment when they receive their visa package from DOS.
During this engagement, USCIS discussed who will be required to pay the fee, explained how payments will be remitted, and answered additional questions.