US immigration changes in 2023

Because filing fees are its source of funding, almost every application filed with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires payment of a filing fee. The filing fee covers the cost of running USCIS and having employees review the applications, request additional information when needed, and make decisions approving or denying them.

On 03 January USCIS issued a list of proposed filing fee increases. These increases have not yet gone into effect, but if (or when) they do, most filing fees will increase between USD 30 and USD 250. While that means additional cost to apply for immigration benefits, in some cases it’s a small increase.

But increased fees are not the only effect of this upcoming change: Historically, filing fee increases mean a rush of applications filed prior to the fee increase. If you’ve been thinking about filing an application with USCIS, you might want to get it filed before any fee increases take effect to try to avoid a rush of applications.

Department of State Will Restore Visa Renewals within the United States for Some Visa Holders

In February, the State Department announced that it would launch a pilot programme later in 2023 offering visa renewals within the United States for H-1B and L visa holders and others with temporary visas who are seeking to travel outside the US. This is exciting news for anyone who has had difficulty returning to their home country for visa stamping. However, offering stateside visa renewals means setting up a new consular division in Washington DC, which will not happen overnight. We don’t have much information yet – just the announcement that the State Department expects to launch the stateside visa renewal pilot programme later this year.

Premium processing expansion

In May 2022, USCIS announced that it would expand its “Premium Processing” service to include additional petitions and application types. People who wish to request “Premium Processing” of their applications can elect to file a separate application form and pay an additional USD 2500 filing fee. Once USCIS receives a Premium Processing request, it will either make a decision on an application or send a request for additional evidence within 15 calendar days. Prior to 2022, only a limited number of application types could request premium processing. All others had to wait on USCIS’s regular processing times, which could sometimes be months or over a year. USCIS has expanded Premium processing in phases over the last year. Its final phase expands premium processing to EB-1 (extraordinary ability, outstanding research and multinational manager) petitions and EB-2 (Advanced Degree and Exceptional Ability) petitions. On 06 March 2023, the immigration service began accepting premium processing requests from graduates of US post-secondary programmes applying for work authorisation.

The Service announced that it will continue to work toward further expansion of Premium Processing services to include applications for student and exchange visitors applying to extend or change their status. We do not yet have a target date for these additional changes.

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