Immigration News
April 2025 Fee Updates for Immigration Petitions
Step-by-step guidance on building a winning case with evidence examples and strategic considerations.
Overview of the 2024 USCIS fee rule still in effect in 2025
The USCIS fee rule that took effect on April 1, 2024 remains the operative fee schedule for immigration petitions filed in April 2025. The 2024 rule represented the most significant restructuring of USCIS fees in over a decade, with increases across most petition categories intended to bring fee revenue in closer alignment with the actual cost of adjudication. The rule established new fee categories, created an asylum program surcharge applicable to certain petitions, and restructured the premium processing fee schedule. Practitioners and petitioners planning filings in April 2025 should base their fee calculations on the 2024 schedule, which has not been superseded by subsequent rulemaking as of the date of this article.
The 2024 fee rule was challenged in federal litigation shortly after it took effect, with some provisions subject to injunctive relief in specific circuits. Practitioners should consult current USCIS fee guidance and confirm the applicable fees for each petition type at the time of filing, as litigation outcomes can affect which fee provisions are operative in specific jurisdictions. The principal fee categories relevant to O-1 petitions — the I-129 base filing fee, the asylum program surcharge, and the premium processing fee — were not enjoined nationally as of April 2025, and petitioners should plan on the full schedule unless current guidance indicates otherwise.
The 2024 fee rule also introduced a new online filing option for certain petition types, with a modest fee discount available to petitioners who file electronically rather than by paper. USCIS has been expanding the range of petition types eligible for online filing, and practitioners should check current USCIS guidance to determine whether online filing is available for the specific petition type and whether the online filing discount applies. The online filing system has generally processed receipt notices more quickly than the paper filing system, which can be advantageous for petitioners tracking premium processing receipt dates.
O-1 petition fees under the current schedule
The base filing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, as of April 2025 is $1,385 for petitions filed by employers with 26 or more full-time equivalent employees, and $695 for petitions filed by employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. This bifurcated fee structure was introduced by the 2024 rule and represents a significant change from the prior flat-fee structure. The petitioning employer must certify its size on the I-129 form, and USCIS may verify the employer's size classification. An employer that misrepresents its size to pay the lower fee faces potential consequences beyond the fee difference.
In addition to the base I-129 filing fee, most O-1 petitions filed by employers with 50 or more employees — where more than 50 percent of those employees are H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrant workers — are subject to an additional fee under the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA). Practitioners should verify whether this additional fee applies to the specific petitioning employer. Most O-1 petitioners are not affected by this fee because the petitioning employers are not H-1B-dependent employers, but the verification step is part of a complete fee analysis for any I-129 petition.
O-1 petitions filed through an agent, rather than a direct employer, follow the same I-129 fee structure. The agent, as the petitioner of record, must certify the relevant size information. Agent-filed O-1 petitions are common in the entertainment and arts industries, where individual performers and artists are engaged by event organizers, production companies, or other entities that act as agents for immigration purposes. The agent's organizational size — not the size of the petitioner's end employer or client — determines which fee tier applies.
Premium processing fee and I-907
The premium processing fee for I-129 petitions, including O-1 petitions, is $2,805 as of April 2025. This fee is paid by filing Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, either concurrently with the I-129 or as an upgrade to a pending standard processing petition. The $2,805 fee is in addition to, and separate from, the I-129 base filing fee and any applicable surcharges. Payment of the I-907 fee by the petitioner or the employer is not restricted — unlike some visa-related fees, the premium processing fee may be paid by the employer or the employee depending on the arrangement negotiated between them, although practitioners should review any applicable employment agreements or offer letters that address fee-payment responsibility.
The premium processing fee has increased several times in recent years, with increases tied to the general adjustments in the 2024 fee rule and to earlier legislative authorizations. Practitioners advising clients on O-1 petition cost planning should include the premium processing fee in the total cost estimate when premium processing is part of the strategy. The $2,805 fee is non-refundable if the petition is denied, but is refundable if USCIS fails to take action within the 15-business-day window — a distinction that makes the fee a cost of the timing guarantee rather than a guarantee of outcome.
Some petitioners inquire about filing the I-907 for only a portion of the services requested in the I-129 — for example, requesting premium processing for the O-1 classification question but not for an associated O-2 or dependent O-3 filing. The I-907 is tied to the specific I-129 petition and covers the adjudication of that petition in its entirety; it does not extend to separate petitions filed by accompanying dependents or co-beneficiaries. Each separate I-129 filing requires its own separate I-907 if premium processing is sought for that filing.
Asylum program surcharge and employer impact
The 2024 fee rule established an asylum program surcharge applicable to petitions filed on Form I-129 and certain other forms. The surcharge is $600 for employers filing I-129 petitions with 26 or more full-time equivalent employees, and $300 for employers with 25 or fewer. The surcharge funds the asylum adjudication system, which USCIS determined was being cross-subsidized by employment-based petition fees without a formal appropriation. Nonprofit organizations meeting the regulatory definition of 'nonprofit' are exempt from the surcharge; fee waiver requests based on nonprofit status require documentation of the organization's qualifying status.
For employers who regularly sponsor O-1 workers — talent agencies, production companies, media organizations, technology firms, and research institutions — the asylum surcharge adds meaningfully to the per-petition cost, particularly when combined with the base filing fee increase. An employer filing an O-1 petition in April 2025 at the larger-employer tier pays $1,385 in base filing fee plus $600 in asylum surcharge plus $2,805 in premium processing fee, for a total of $4,790 per petition before attorney fees. This total is significantly higher than the pre-2024 fee schedule, and employers who file multiple O-1 petitions per year should recalibrate their immigration cost budgets accordingly.
Nonprofit organizations that meet the USCIS definition of nonprofit — organized as a nonprofit under applicable law, with tax-exempt status under IRS 501(c)(3) or equivalent, and operating in a capacity consistent with their nonprofit purpose — are exempt from the asylum program surcharge. Research universities, nonprofit hospitals, scientific research institutions, and arts nonprofits that file O-1 petitions for their talent can submit documentation of their nonprofit status with each I-129 petition to claim the exemption. The exemption does not affect the base filing fee or the premium processing fee — it applies only to the surcharge component.
Fee exemptions and nonprofit considerations
The fee exemption analysis for nonprofit employers requires careful attention to which fees are subject to exemption and which are not. As noted above, the asylum program surcharge is exempt for qualifying nonprofits, but the base I-129 filing fee applies to all employers regardless of nonprofit status, and the premium processing fee applies to all petitioners who elect premium processing. There is no fee waiver for the base I-129 filing fee in the O-1 context; the fee waiver provisions that apply in certain other immigration contexts — humanitarian applications, for example — do not apply to employment-based nonimmigrant petitions.
Research universities and nonprofit research institutions that file O-1A petitions for scientific researchers should note that the nonprofit exemption from the asylum surcharge is available regardless of the size tier that applies to the base filing fee. A large research university with hundreds of employees files at the larger-employer fee tier for the base filing fee but qualifies for the nonprofit exemption from the surcharge if it meets the regulatory nonprofit definition. The two analyses are independent: size determines the base fee tier, and nonprofit status determines surcharge exemption.
Some petitioning organizations that are nominally for-profit subsidiaries of nonprofit parent entities have sought to claim the nonprofit surcharge exemption based on the parent entity's nonprofit status. USCIS applies the surcharge exemption to the petitioning entity — the entity that signs and files the I-129 — rather than to a parent or affiliate. A for-profit subsidiary filing as the petitioner cannot claim the nonprofit exemption based on the nonprofit status of its parent. Petitioners in this situation should consult with counsel about whether restructuring the filing to be made by the nonprofit parent entity, if the parent is actually the employer of record, is appropriate.
Planning implications for O-1 petitioners
The 2024 fee schedule substantially increases the total cost of O-1 petition filings compared to prior years, and petitioners and their employers should build accurate cost estimates into their budget planning well before the petition is filed. The combination of higher base filing fees, the asylum surcharge, and the unchanged but substantial premium processing fee means that a fully-loaded O-1 petition with premium processing costs nearly $5,000 in government fees before attorney fees, translation costs, and document preparation expenses are added. Foreign nationals who are responsible for their own petition costs — for example, artists and performers petitioned through agents under a cost-sharing arrangement — should understand the full fee structure before agreeing to financial terms.
For petitioners who anticipate filing extension petitions in addition to the initial O-1 petition, the fee analysis should cover the full expected duration of the O-1 period and the likely number of extension filings. An O-1 is granted for the period of time needed to accomplish the event, activity, or production for which the alien is admitted, up to three years initially, with extensions available in one-year increments. A petitioner who expects to remain in O-1 status for five years may file an initial petition and then two extension petitions, at the current fee schedule each time. Multi-year fee projections should be part of any long-term O-1 planning discussion.
Petitioners should also be aware that USCIS periodically revises fees, and the fee schedule in effect at the time of filing is the applicable schedule — not the schedule that was in effect when the immigration strategy was originally developed. A petitioner who began planning an O-1 strategy under the pre-2024 fee schedule and did not revise the financial analysis when the new rule took effect may have significantly underestimated total petition costs. Verifying the current fee schedule at the USCIS fee website at the time of filing is a basic compliance step that prevents payment errors that can cause rejected filings.