The Details

On April 29, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published an Interim Final Rule titled USCIS Immigration Fees and Related Procedures Required by H.R.1 Reconciliation Bill. The rule codifies a new Annual Asylum Fee, makes the asylum filing fee non-refundable even when an application is rejected, adds a new Form I-94 fee, and caps Temporary Protected Status work permits at one year.

DHS issued the rule as an Interim Final Rule, meaning it takes effect on May 29, 2026 regardless of public comment. Comments are still being accepted, and DHS has stated it will consider them in a subsequent final rule.

The rule is presented as a routine implementation of fee provisions Congress passed in H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025. In practice, it converts annual fees into a removal mechanism for asylum applicants whose cases sit in a USCIS backlog they did not create and cannot control.

What Is DHS Doing?

The rule codifies four H.R.1 fee provisions in federal regulation, including:

• A new Annual Asylum Fee of at least $100 for every calendar year an asylum application remains pending

• Retention of the $100 asylum filing fee even when USCIS rejects the application

• A new $24 fee on Form I-102 filings for replacement or initial Form I-94 records

• A statutory cap limiting Temporary Protected Status employment authorization to one year, or the remaining period of TPS designation if shorter

The rule also establishes the consequences of nonpayment, including rejection of the asylum application, immediate termination of any related work permit, and referral to expedited removal or issuance of a Notice to Appear for applicants without lawful status.

None of the fees in the rule can be waived or reduced. DHS reads the H.R.1 text to foreclose hardship waivers, public-interest waivers, and the existing waiver authority under INA 245(l)(7).

The Most Significant Change: The Annual Asylum Fee

The Annual Asylum Fee, or AAF, requires every asylum applicant with a pending Form I-589 to pay a minimum $100 fee for each calendar year the application remains pending. The fee adjusts annually for inflation. It applies on top of the existing filing fee. It cannot be waived for indigence, hardship, or any other reason.

DHS will send each affected applicant a personalized notice identifying the amount owed, the due date, and the consequences of failure to pay. Applicants will have 30 days from the date of notice to pay online through the USCIS payment system.

If the applicant does not pay within 30 days, the consequences are severe and immediate.

• The pending asylum application is rejected.

• Any related Employment Authorization Document terminates immediately.

• The accrual of time toward asylum-based work authorization eligibility stops.

• If the applicant has lawful status, USCIS will reject the application but will not initiate removal solely on that basis.

• If the applicant lacks lawful status, DHS will either initiate expedited removal or issue a Notice to Appear in immigration court.

There is no motion to reopen, no administrative appeal, and no opportunity to cure. The applicant must file a new Form I-589, with a new $100 filing fee, and the asylum clock resets.

The rule applies to applications that were pending at the start of FY 2025, including applications filed years before H.R.1 was signed into law. The first AAF notices for FY 2025 were paused by a federal court order in Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project v. USCIS. That stay was lifted on February 2, 2026. DHS will resume issuing notices once this rule takes effect.

The Asylum Filing Fee Is Now Non-Refundable

H.R.1 created a $100 filing fee for every Form I-589, payable at the time of filing. The fee cannot be waived. Under prior practice, when USCIS rejected an application as incomplete, the filing fee was returned with the application so the applicant could correct the defect and refile.

The new rule eliminates that practice for the H.R.1 asylum filing fee. USCIS will retain the $100 fee even when the application is rejected, including when rejection is triggered by failure to pay the AAF. To refile, the applicant must submit a new $100 fee.

The New Form I-94 Fee

H.R.1 imposed a $24 fee on every alien who submits an application for a Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. The rule applies that fee to every USCIS Form I-102 filing, which is used to request a replacement, corrected, or initial Form I-94.

The fee applies even when the underlying USCIS filing fee is $0, including for service members and NATO personnel filing for an initial Form I-94. The only exception is when the filing is needed to correct a Form I-94 that DHS itself issued in error.

The TPS Work Permit Cap

The rule limits Temporary Protected Status employment authorization, including work permits issued to TPS beneficiaries and to applicants who USCIS has determined are prima facie eligible, to one year, or the remaining duration of the TPS country designation, whichever is shorter.

Where TPS designations exceed one year, beneficiaries must apply to renew their work permits annually. Each renewal is subject to additional H.R.1 fees that cannot be waived.

No Waivers, No Exemptions

DHS interprets H.R.1 to foreclose every existing waiver and exemption mechanism that has historically protected vulnerable populations. The rule explicitly states:

• Indigence is not a basis for waiver.

• Public-interest waivers under 8 CFR 106.3(c) do not apply.

• The existing waiver authority under INA 245(l)(7) is superseded.

• Fee exemptions in 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3) do not extend to H.R.1 fees.

The only refunds available are at USCIS discretion in narrow administrative-error circumstances, such as when the agency wrongly demanded a duplicate filing.

DHS's Justification

DHS frames the rule as a routine codification of statutory mandates, asserting that:

• The fees are required by Congress and DHS has no discretion to waive them.

• Rejection for nonpayment promotes deterrence of frivolous filings.

• Annual fees recoup intake costs and shift administrative burdens from taxpayers to applicants.

• Tying ongoing pendency to fee payment advances H.R.1's enforcement and cost-recovery objectives.

DHS estimates the affected population at approximately 30.7 million person-years of pending asylum applications over the next decade. By the agency's own calculation, that translates to billions of dollars in annual fees, none of which can be waived for indigence.

Why This Hits Afghans Especially Hard

Afghan parolees evacuated under Operation Allies Welcome and Operation Allies Refuge were directed to file for asylum as their primary durable-status pathway, in significant part because Congress has repeatedly declined to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. Tens of thousands of Afghans now have Forms I-589 pending, many filed in 2022 or 2023, sitting in a USCIS backlog the agency has slowed to a near-standstill.

Several features of the rule combine to make this population uniquely vulnerable.

• The 30-day notice window assumes stable housing, reliable mail, English fluency, and online payment access. Many Afghan parolees do not have all four.

• Afghan asylum cases routinely sit pending for three to seven years, meaning the AAF will recur annually for the duration of the wait.

• The current administration has signaled it will not pause adjudication delays even as fees compound.

• Afghans cannot return to Afghanistan. The Taliban controls the country. Removal is not voluntary departure to a safe place. It is forced return to a regime that hunts former allies of the United States.

The combined effect is a fee structure that taxes Afghan allies annually for a backlog the United States created, then strips status and triggers removal proceedings if a single notice is missed.

Practical Consequences

If implemented as written, the rule will:

• Generate a rolling stream of asylum application rejections tied to missed AAF payments

• Strip work authorization from rejected applicants, often without warning

• Channel rejected applicants without lawful status into expedited removal or NTA proceedings

• Penalize asylum seekers for delays caused by USCIS staffing shortfalls and administrative slowdowns

• Disproportionately harm low-income applicants, applicants with limited English proficiency, applicants without legal representation, and applicants in unstable housing

• Force AfghanEvac coalition partners, legal services providers, and community sponsors to absorb the financial and operational burden of monitoring AAF notices for clients

Broader Structural Shift

Historically, asylum fees have been minimal or waivable, reflecting a recognition that asylum seekers are by definition fleeing persecution and often lack resources. This rule reframes the asylum process as the following, rather than a key component of international humanitarian law:

• A pay-to-wait system, with fees compounding annually for as long as the government takes to adjudicate the case

• A fee-triggered removal pipeline, where missed payments produce removability findings

• A structure in which government delay is monetized at applicant expense

The result is not simply a higher cost of seeking asylum. It is a redefinition of asylum as a privilege contingent on continued payment, with removal as the default consequence of nonpayment.

Bottom Line

The Annual Asylum Fee converts a fee mechanism into a removal mechanism. It charges asylum applicants annually to wait in a backlog the government created and is not clearing, and it strips status from anyone who falls behind on payment.

If implemented as written:

• Afghan allies and other asylum seekers will lose status not because their claims lack merit, but because they missed a piece of mail.

• The economic and humanitarian consequences will fall on families, employers, congregations, and local communities.

• The affirmative asylum system will be reshaped into a fee-driven attrition mechanism.

This rule warrants careful public scrutiny, sustained policy debate, and a substantial volume of public comment before the final rule is issued.