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.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

44449 

Vol. 83, No. 170 

Friday, August 31, 2018 

1See 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). 

2The 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. 

3We 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. 

4See, USCIS Will Temporarily Suspend Premium 

Processing for All H–1B Petitions, https://

www.uscis.gov/archive/uscis-will-temporarilysuspend-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-temporarilysuspend-premium-processing-fiscal-year-2019-h-1bcap-petitions (Last Reviewed/Updated: 03/20/ 

2018). 

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. 

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 employmentbased 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). 

USCIS intends to use the premium 

funds that are generated by the fee 

increase to provide certain premiumprocessing 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


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with RULES
44450 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 170 / Friday, August 31, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

5This 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. 

6Additional revenue collected = 238,784 average 

number of premium processing Forms I–907 

received * $185 increase in premium processing 

fees = $44,175,040. 

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. 

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 

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 

Fiscal 

year 

Total 

Form I–907 

receipts 

received 

2013 ...................................... 189,588 

2014 ...................................... 218,400 

2015 ...................................... 234,576 

2016 ...................................... 319,517 

2017 ...................................... 231,839 

Average ................................ 238,784 

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. 

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 

■ 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. 

§ 103.7 [Amended] 

■ 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 


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