Asylum Annual Fee - Don’t Miss the Deadline!
Last summer, Congress passed H.R. 1, a law that, among many other things, required an annual fee for asylum applicants. Under this law, new asylum applications carry a filing fee for the first time. Additionally, ongoing asylum applicants are required to pay an annual fee. The fee is currently $102 but it is subject to inflation-related increases.
This fee applies to those whose I-589 asylum application is pending with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) or the Immigration Court, but the actual payment of the fee differs. This blog post focuses on those asylum applications pending with USCIS.
Shortly after the passage of this law, USCIS published a regulation to begin collecting this fee and sent notices to each applicant, directing them to pay within 30 days. While pending litigation temporarily halted fee payment, it is now back in effect. Recently, USCIS announced that all asylum applicants must pay this fee by May 29, 2026. Non-payment will result in a rejection of pending asylum applications and invalidation of employment authorization tied to these applications.
Applicants must pay the annual fee electronically through the USCIS portal: https://my.uscis.gov/accounts/annual-asylum-fee/start/overview and will need to input some basic information about their asylum applications, including their alien registration number and the receipt number for the asylum applications. These numbers can be found on the receipt notice that was issued when an applicant applied for asylum.
Those who applied for asylum on or after October 1, 2024 are required to pay the fee annually on or before the anniversary of the date that they filed their application. They can find this date on their USCIS receipt notice.
Those whose asylum application was pending prior to October 1, 2024 must pay the fee by September 30 of each year.
USCIS stated that they will reject applications 30 days after notifying an applicant of their requirement to pay, but it is not clear whether the notice that they provided during the Fall of 2025 is the only notice that they’re required to provide, or if they must provide notice each year of the fee obligation. Some of these details may be worked out as part of the ongoing litigation.
The take-away, however, is that applicants who have not already paid their annual fee must do so by May 29.
Further reading:
H.R. 1 (“One Big Beautiful Bill”, July 4, 2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/pdf/PLAW-119publ21.pdf.
DHS Notice of Immigration Fees. (July 22, 2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/pdf/PLAW-119publ21.pdf.
USCIS Policy Alert. “DHS Announces Consequences for Unpaid Annual Asylum Fees, Unveils New H.R. 1 Requirements.” (April 28, 2026). https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/dhs-announces-consequences-for-unpaid-annual-asylum-fees-unveils-new-hr-1-requirements.
DHS Interim Final Rule (April 29, 2026). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/29/2026-08333/uscis-immigration-fees-and-related-procedures-required-by-hr1-reconciliation-bill.
The above is not legal advice and should not be acted upon as such. U.S. immigration matters are complicated and carry serious consequences. We recommend consultation with counsel prior to proceeding with any legal matters.