[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 170 (Friday, August 31, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44449-44450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19108]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 170 / Friday, August 31, 2018 / Rules 
and Regulations

[[Page 44449]]



DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

8 CFR Part 103

[CIS No. 2620-18; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2018-0003]
RIN 1615-ZB73


Adjustment to Premium Processing Fee

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY:  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is increasing the 
premium processing fee charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services (USCIS). DHS is increasing the fee by 14.92 percent, the 
percentage change in inflation since the fee was last adjusted in 2010 
according to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). 
The adjustment increases the fee from $1,225 to $1,410.

DATES:  This rule is effective on October 1, 2018. Applications 
postmarked on or after that date must include the new fee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph D. Moore, Chief Financial 
Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of 
Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20529-
2130; or by phone at (202) 272-1969 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Table of Abbreviations

CFR--Code of Federal Regulations
CPI--Consumer Price Index
CPI-U--Consumer Price Index for All Urban Customers
DHS--Department of Homeland Security
Form I-129--Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
Form I-140--Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
INA--Immigration and Nationality Act
USCIS--U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

I. Background and Authority

    The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) permits certain 
employment-based immigration benefit applicants and petitioners to 
request, for a fee, premium processing. The applicable statute 
authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to charge and 
collect a premium processing fee for employment-based petitions and 
applications. The fee must be used to provide certain premium-
processing services to business customers, and to make infrastructure 
improvements in the adjudications and customer service processes. By 
statute, the fee, initially set at $1,000, must be paid in addition to 
any normal petition/application fee that may be applicable. The statute 
provides that the Secretary may adjust this fee according to the 
Consumer Price Index. INA section 286(u), 8 U.S.C. 1356(u); Public Law 
106-553, App. B, tit. I, sec. 112, 114 Stat. 2762, 2762A-68 (Dec. 21, 
2000).
    Premium processing allows filers to request 15-day processing of 
certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an 
extra amount. See 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS) and (e). The premium 
processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other 
applicable fees. See 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS)(1). It cannot be waived. 
See 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS)(3). USCIS uses premium processing fee 
revenue to improve its adjudications and customer service processes, 
fund the costs of providing the premium services, and modernize its 
information technology systems.
    Premium processing is currently authorized for certain petitioners 
filing a Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129), or an 
Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) seeking certain 
employment-based classifications. See 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS) and 
(e).\1\ DHS last adjusted the premium processing fee to $1,225 in its 
2010 USCIS fee rule. See USCIS Fee Schedule; Final Rule, 75 FR 58961, 
58978, 58988 (Sept. 24, 2010); 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(RR) (effective Nov. 
23, 2010, codified as amended at 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS), 81 FR 73292, 
73331 (Oct. 24, 2016)).

II. Basis for Adjustment

    Consistent with INA section 286(u), 8 U.S.C. 1356(u), DHS has 
calculated the percent change in the CPI-U to measure inflation. For 
the end point for the period of inflation to establish the current 
premium processing fee, DHS used the Consumer Price Index-Urban 
Consumers (CPI-U) as of June 2010. See 75 FR 58961. Accordingly, we 
have used July 2010 as the starting point for this change. In July 2010 
the CPI-U was 218.01, and in April 2018 it was 250.55.\2\ Therefore, 
between July 2010 and April 2018, the CPI-U increased by 14.92 
percent.\3\ When the percentage increase is applied to the current 
premium processing fee of $1,225, the adjusted premium processing fee 
is $1,408 ($1,410 when rounded to the nearest $5 increment). Thus, 
under INA section 286(u), 8 U.S.C. 1356(u), the USCIS premium 
processing fee will be $1,410. See final 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS).
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    \1\ See also USCIS, How Do I Use the Premium Processing Service, 
https://www.uscis.gov/forms/how-do-i-use-premium-processing-service 
(last reviewed/updated Oct. 3, 2017, last visited June 7, 2018).
    \2\ The latest CPI-U data is available at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?bls. Select CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) 
1982-84=100 (Unadjusted)--CUUR0000SA0 and click the Retrieve data 
button.
    \3\ We calculated this by subtracting the July 2010 CPI-U 
(218.01) from the April 2018 CPI-U (250.55). We divided the result 
(32.54) by the July 2010 CPI-U (218.01). Calculation: (250.55-
218.01)/218.01 = 14.92 percent.
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    USCIS intends to use the premium funds that are generated by the 
fee increase to provide certain premium-processing services to business 
customers, and to make infrastructure improvements in the adjudications 
and customer-service processes. In recent years, premium processing has 
been suspended on employment-based petitions to permit officers working 
on premium processing cases to process long-pending non-premium filed 
petitions as well as to prevent a lapse in employment authorization for 
beneficiaries of extension petitions resulting from the high volume of 
incoming petitions and a significant surge in premium processing 
requests.\4\

[[Page 44450]]

The additional staff hired through the premium funds will allow USCIS 
to provide premium processing service with less disruption and improve 
the adjudications and customer service process. USCIS also plans to 
make adequate investment in information technology systems that will 
improve the adjudications process and the services provided to 
applicants and petitioners.
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    \4\ See, USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium Processing for 
All H-1B Petitions, https://www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-will-temporarily-suspend-premium-processing-all-h-1b-petitions (Last 
Reviewed/Updated: 03/03/2017); USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend 
Premium Processing for Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap Petitions, https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-will-temporarily-suspend-premium-processing-fiscal-year-2019-h-1b-cap-petitions (Last Reviewed/
Updated: 03/20/2018).
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    A request for premium processing postmarked on or after October 1, 
2018 must include the new fee. Petitioners must pay the $1,410 fee in 
addition to and separate from other filing fees. 8 CFR 
103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS)(1). The premium processing fee may not be waived. 8 
CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS)(3).\5\

III. Regulatory Requirements
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    \5\ This rule also makes a technical correction to the authority 
citation for 8 CFR part 103. In a previous DHS rule, a citation to 
48 U.S.C. 1806 was inadvertently removed. See 76 FR 53764, 53780. 
This rule reinserts that citation.
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A. Administrative Procedure Act

    DHS is making this fee increase final without notice and comment 
because it is unnecessary. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). By law, DHS may adjust 
the premium processing fee for inflation according to the Consumer 
Price Index. See INA section 286(u), 8 U.S.C. 1356(m). DHS has 
previously established by regulation that DHS may adjust the fee 
annually by notice. 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1)(i)(SS)(2). No comments were 
received on the USCIS Fee Schedule; Final Rule regarding USCIS's 
authority to adjust the premium processing fee for inflation in the 
future. See 75 FR 58961-58991. The amount of the increase would not be 
changed by public comment. The sole exercise of discretion here relates 
to the determination whether, as a matter of internal agency 
management, DHS and USCIS needs additional premium processing fee 
revenue to provide premium processing services and to make 
infrastructure improvements in the adjudications and customer-service 
processes as authorized by INA 286(u), 8 U.S.C. 1356(u), and whether, 
as a procedural matter, payment of such increased fee will be a 
precondition for receiving the premium processing service. Therefore, 
further delay of this regulation change to solicit public comments is 
unnecessary.

B. Other Regulatory Requirements

    Because this action is not subject to the notice-and-comment 
requirements under the APA, a final regulatory flexibility analysis is 
not required. See 5 U.S.C. 604(a). In addition, this rule is not a 
``major rule'' as defined by the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 
804(2), and thus is not subject to a 60-day delay in the rule becoming 
effective. This action is not subject to the written statement 
requirements of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Pub. 
L. 104-4). Nor does it require prior consultation with State, local, 
and tribal government officials as specified by Executive Orders 13132 
or 13175. This rule also does not require an Environmental Assessment 
(EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 40 CFR 1507.3(b)(2)(ii) 
and 1508.4. This action does not affect the quality of the human 
environment and fits within Categorical Exclusion number A3(d) in Dir. 
023-01 Rev. 01, Appendix A, Table 1, for rules that interpret or amend 
an existing regulation without changing its environmental effect.
    Finally, this action does not require review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563. As 
previously discussed, DHS has the authority to adjust the premium 
processing fees according to the CPI-U. DHS is adjusting the premium 
processing fee by 14.92 percent resulting in an increase of $185 per 
Form I-907 (from a fee of $1,225 per premium processing Form I-907 to 
$1,410 per Form I-907). Table 1 shows the total number of premium 
processing Forms I-907 received by USCIS from fiscal year 2013 to 2017. 
On average, USCIS received 238,784 Forms I-907 annually during this 
timeframe.

    Table 1--Total Number of Premium Processing (Form I-907) Requests
                    Received, Fiscal Years 2013-2017
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                                                           Total Form I-
                       Fiscal year                         907 receipts
                                                             received
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2013....................................................         189,588
2014....................................................         218,400
2015....................................................         234,576
2016....................................................         319,517
2017....................................................         231,839
Average.................................................         238,784
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Source: USCIS, Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

    DHS estimates an additional annual $44 million in revenue to be 
collected from the increase in premium processing fees due to 
adjustment of inflation.\6\ As discussed earlier, the premium 
processing fee revenue will be used to make infrastructure improvements 
in the adjudications and customer service processes as well as to fund 
the cost of providing premium services.
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    \6\ Additional revenue collected = 238,784 average number of 
premium processing Forms I-907 received * $185 increase in premium 
processing fees = $44,175,040.
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    This rule imposes transfer payments between the public and the 
government. Thus, this action is exempt from Executive Order 13771.

List of Subjects in 8 CFR Part 103

    Administrative practice and procedure, Authority delegations 
(Government agencies), Freedom of information, Immigration, Privacy, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Surety bonds.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, DHS amends part 103 of 
chapter I of title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 103--IMMIGRATION BENEFITS; BIOMETRIC REQUIREMENTS; 
AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 103 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301, 552, 552a; 8 U.S.C. 1101, 1103, 1304, 
1356; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 48 U.S.C. 1806; Pub. L. 107-296, 116 Stat. 
2135 (6 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); E.O. 12356, 47 FR 14874, 15557; 3 CFR, 
1982 Comp., p. 166; 8 CFR part 2; Pub. L. 112-54, 125 Stat 550.

Sec.  103.7   [Amended]

0
2. Section 103.7 is amended in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(SS) introductory 
text by removing ``$1,225'' and adding in its place ``$1,410''.


Claire M. Grady,
Acting Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-19108 Filed 8-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 9111-97-P