There are new fees for asylum applications and work permits

Read below to learn about new annual asylum fees, as well as new fees for initial asylum applications, for work permits based on asylum, for TPS applications, for work permits based on parole, and more.

Asylum Applications - Annual Fee

It now costs $100 per year to continue with your asylum case. It is not possible to apply for a fee waiver. Before this change, there were no annual fees.

The details of how to pay the fee depend on whether you are applying for asylum in immigration court or with USCIS. 

USCIS annual asylum fee: 

• It will now cost $100 per year to continue with your asylum case at USCIS. This fee could increase in future years.

• If you applied for asylum on or before October 1, 2024, USCIS says you will owe a $100 annual asylum fee this year. Then, you would need to pay $100 or more per year each year going forward, as long as your asylum case remains pending.

• USCIS says that they will send you a notice to tell you when to pay the fee for the first time. In October 2025, some asylum seekers started to receive these notices, but many people have not yet received the notices.

• If you receive a notice from USCIS telling you to pay the annual asylum fee within 30 days, you can go to this USCIS payment website to pay the fee. Enter your A Number and receipt number. Then, you can pay the fee.

• If you have not yet received a notice about the annual asylum fee and you applied for asylum at least a year ago, you can check the USCIS payment website. Enter your A number and the receipt number from your asylum application receipt notice, and the USCIS website should say if you can now pay the fee or if you need to continue to wait for a notice. If the website says to continue to wait for a notice, you can come back and check again another day. You can check the USCIS website weekly in case there are updates.

• If you applied for asylum after October 1, 2024, USCIS says your first payment is due on the one-year anniversary of when you filed your asylum application. For example, if you applied for asylum on January 5, 2025, your first payment would be due on January 5, 2026.

• The annual fee should be $100 per asylum application (Form I-589), not $100 per person. For example, if you included your spouse or children in your application, the fee should still be $100 total for the entire family. But if each family member filed their own separate Form I-589, each person will need to pay the $100 annual fee. 

Immigration court annual asylum fee: 

• It will now cost $100 per year to continue with your asylum case in immigration court. This fee could increase in future years. However, the immigration court system has not provided information about how to pay the annual fee and has not provided information about how the process will work. Below is what we know so far.

• The immigration court says that anyone whose asylum application has been pending for at least 1 year as of July 4, 2025 (or shortly after) owes $100 this year. For example, if your application had been pending for 3 years as of July, you would pay $100 this year. Then, you would need to pay $100 or more per year each year going forward, as long as your asylum case remains pending.

• The annual fee should be $100 per asylum application (Form I-589), not $100 per person. For example, if you included your spouse or children in your application, the fee should still be $100 total for the entire family. But if each family member filed their own separate Form I-589, each person will need to pay the $100 annual fee.

• There have been reports of immigration judges asking for the annual fee even though there is no system set up to pay, and saying they will order someone removed if they do not pay.

• If you are about to go to an immigration court hearing, or if a judge asks you to pay the annual asylum fee, you may want to try paying the fee on this immigration court website. There is currently no option to select for the annual fee, but you could try to select “Court - I-589, Application for Asylum (Initial Filing),” pay the $100, and print a copy of your receipt to show the judge. We do not know if this will work, or if you will be required to pay the $100 again later. If you do this, make sure to save a copy of your receipt and your payment tracking ID.

• Another thing you can try to do is to show the judge a copy of this government document that says the fee cannot yet be paid (footnote 7). We also do not know if this would work. 

• We will update this website as we learn more.

ASAP members filed a lawsuit about the annual asylum fees on October 3.

Asylum Applications - Initial Filing Fee

It now costs $100 to submit a new asylum application. It is not possible to apply for a fee waiver. Before this change, there were no fees to apply for asylum.

The fee should be $100 per asylum application (Form I-589), not $100 per person. For example, if you include your spouse or children in your application, the fee should be $100 total for the entire family. But if each family member files their own separate Form I-589, each person must pay the $100 fee.

The details of how to pay the fee depend on whether you are applying for asylum in immigration court or with USCIS. 

Filing a new asylum application with USCIS: 

• Starting on July 22, 2025, it costs $100 to submit a new asylum application to USCIS. This fee is the same whether you are applying online or by mail. 

• If you are submitting your asylum application online, you can pay the filing fee at the end of the online application. If you are submitting your asylum application by mail, you can include the fee in the same envelope. Learn more about how to pay.

• If you do not pay the fee on or after August 21, 2025, USCIS says it will reject your asylum application and return it.

Filing a new asylum application in immigration court: 

• Starting on or shortly after July 4, 2025, it costs $100 to submit a new asylum application to immigration court. But there was no way to pay this fee in immigration court until September 23, 2025. 

• Starting September 23, before you submit your new asylum application to immigration court, pay the $100 fee on this immigration court website. Enter your A Number, and select “Court - I-589, Application for Asylum (Initial Filing).” Print the receipt showing that you paid the fee and include it with your asylum application when you submit it. Save a copy of the receipt and your Payment Tracking ID for your records. Learn more. 

• If you do not include the receipt showing that you paid the asylum fee, the immigration court may reject your asylum application. 

• You can get a receipt by entering your A Number and Payment Tracking ID on this website. If you do not know your Payment Tracking ID, you can try going back to this immigration court website and entering your A number and filing type. It should then show you your Payment Tracking ID.

• If you applied for asylum in immigration court between July 4 and September 22, 2025, read more below.

What if you applied for asylum in immigration court between July 4 and September 22, 2025? 

• Between July 4, 2025 and September 22, 2025, there was no way to pay the initial asylum application fee in immigration court. The immigration court acknowledged that there was no way to pay in this document (footnote 7). Then, on September 23, it announced a way to pay in this document. 

• If you tried to submit your asylum application between July 4-September 22, 2025 and it was rejected for not paying the fee, you can pay the fee now and submit your asylum application again with a copy of the receipt. See instructions here. You can include a cover letter explaining how you previously tried to submit your asylum application and how you paid the fee as soon as possible after the immigration court created a method of payment.

• If you successfully submitted your asylum application between July 4 - September 22, we do not know if the immigration court will require you to pay the fee by a certain time. But to be on the safe side, you can pay the fee now and submit copies of the receipt to the immigration court and the government attorney. You can find the address of the government attorney (OPLA) for your immigration court on this webpage. Choose your state, choose “Office of the Principal Legal Advisor”, and press “Apply” to narrow the search.

Work permits for asylum seekers 

Initial work permits: Starting on July 22, 2025, it costs $550 to apply for a first work permit as an asylum seeker. Before, there was no fee. Learn how to pay the fee.

Renewal work permits: Starting on July 22, 2025, the cost to renew your work permit as an asylum seeker increased by $275. If you are renewing your work permit online, it now costs a total of $745. If you are renewing your work permit by mail, it now costs a total of $795. Learn how to pay the fee. 

What if you pay the wrong fee: If you pay the wrong fee on or after August 21, 2025, USCIS says it will reject your work permit application and return it.

Can you request a fee waiver: It is not possible to request a fee waiver for an initial work permit. For a renewal work permit, it is still possible to request a fee waiver, but only for a portion of the total.

Other changes: The new law also says that some work permits for asylum seekers will automatically end after an asylum seeker loses their case. But this is only true in specific circumstances – learn more here. 

In one piece of good news, thanks to ASAP members’ advocacy, this law does NOT shorten the length of work permits for asylum seekers. (Originally, the bill included a proposal that would have shortened work permits for asylum seekers to only 6 months.) New work permits for asylum seekers continue to be valid for 5 years.

TPS and TPS-based work permits 

Starting on July 22, 2025, the fee to apply for TPS for the first time increased. The fee also increased to apply for a work permit based on approved TPS or a pending TPS application.

• First time TPS registration: $530 

• Initial work permit: $1070 (if applying by mail) or $1020 (if applying online) 

• Renewal work permit: $795 (if applying by mail) or $745 (if applying online)

• You can pay the fee at the same time as you submit your application. Learn how to pay the fee.

Another change is that work permits based on approved TPS or a pending TPS application will only be valid for one year, or until the expiration date of the TPS – whichever is shorter. (But if you had already received your work permit before July 2025, your work permit should still be valid until the expiration date.)

Work permits based on parole 

The fee to apply for a work permit based on parole also increased beginning on July 22, 2025:

• Initial work permit: $1070 (if applying by mail) or $1020 (if applying online) 

• Renewal work permit: $795 (if applying by mail) or $745 (if applying online)

• You can pay the fee at the same time as you submit your application. Learn how to pay the fee.

Work permits based on parole will only be valid for one year, or until the expiration date of the parole – whichever is shorter. (But if you had already received your work permit before July 2025, your work permit should still be valid until the expiration date or until you receive a notice from the government ending your parole and work permit.)

Other changes

This bill made many other changes, some related to immigration and some about other issues. 

This bill increases the amount of money that the government can spend on immigration arrests and detention.

The bill also increased fees for other immigration applications and processes, such as Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). If you are planning to submit a new application to USCIS, you can check this USCIS website and select your form.