Judge Enjoins New Rules on USCIS Fees and Fee Waivers

On September 29, 2020, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered a preliminary injunction against the new USCIS rules on fees and fee waivers, preventing them from taking effect on October 2, 2020. Judge White cited to several reasons for granting the injunction, including claims that several acting officials at DHS and USCIS were not appointed in accordance with the law, failure to comply with the Administrative Procedures Act, and a general failure on the part of the Government to fully explore the implication of the changes.

The effect of the order is that the new fees and limitations on fee waivers will not take effect on October 2, as had been planned. The litigation will surely continue, and we will update the site with any information about changes to the fees.

We covered the new fee rule [see article] and fee waiver rules [see article] in separate articles. See the following links for the prior fee schedule [link] and fee waiver rules [see blog], which will now remain in effect for the foreseeable future.