U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements; Correction

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <CFR>8 CFR Parts 103, 106, 204, 212, 214, 240, 244, 245, 245a, 264, and 274a</CFR> <DEPDOC>[CIS No. 2687-21; DHS Docket No. USCIS 2021-0010]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1615-AC68</RIN> <SUBJECT>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements; Correction</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule; correction. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> USCIS is correcting a final rule that appeared in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on January 31, 2024. The final rule amended DHS regulations to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by USCIS and made certain changes. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective April 1, 2024. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Carol Cribbs, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 5900 Capital Gateway Dr., Camp Springs, MD 20746; telephone 240-721-3000 (this is not a toll-free number). </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> On January 31, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> at 89 FR 6194 changing immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), fee exemptions and fee waiver requirements, premium processing time limits, and intercountry adoption processing (FR Doc. 2024-01427). After review of the published document, DHS identified a few errors in the preamble and regulatory text. In the final rule, there were a number of technical and typographical errors that are identified and corrected by the Correction of Errors and Technical Amendments section of this correcting document. The provisions in this correcting document are effective as if they had been included in the final rule document that appeared in the January 31, 2024, <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . Accordingly, the corrections are effective on April 1, 2024, at 12 a.m. Eastern Time. This document, and the corrections included in this document, do not change how DHS will apply the final rule; <E T="03">i.e.,</E> DHS will apply the corrected final rule only to applications and petitions postmarked (or, if applicable, submitted electronically) on or after April 1, 2024. Applications and petitions already pending with USCIS on April 1, 2024, ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> postmarked before April 1, 2024) will not be subject to the final rule. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Summary and Explanation of Corrections</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Fee Exemptions and Waivers</HD> As discussed in the preamble, the final rule expands fee exemptions for certain filing categories. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> DHS identified a number of places where these fee exemptions were not accurately contained in either the preamble or regulatory text: <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR at 6196; <E T="03">id.</E> at 6212-32. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD3">Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization</HD> The final rule created fee exemptions for a renewal or replacement Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, when filed by the following groups: • Persons seeking or granted special immigrant visa or status as an Afghan or Iraqi translator or interpreter, Iraqi nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government, Afghan nationals employed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government or employed by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and their derivatives. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> <E T="03">id.</E> at 6227-32, Tables 5B, 5C; RIA Tables 46, 47. </FTNT> • Abused spouses and children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents seeking cancellation of removal under INA 240A(b)(2), 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(2). <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> <E T="03">id.</E> at 6227-32, Tables 5B, 5C; RIA Tables 46, 47. </FTNT> • Current and former U.S. armed forces service members. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> <E T="03">id.</E> at 6227-32, Tables 5B, 5C; RIA Tables 46, 47. </FTNT> The final rule's summary of changes (II.C), Tables 5B and 5C, and supporting documents all confirm these additional fee exemptions. However, DHS inadvertently omitted the exemptions for the above groups in the regulatory text, which only listed the fee exemptions for an initial I-765 as was provided in the proposed rule. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> Therefore, DHS corrects the regulatory text portion of the final rule, 8 CFR 106.2(a)(44)(iv)(E) (on page 6389, first column); 8 CFR 106.3(b)(3)(vi) (on page 6392, third column); and 8 CFR 106.3(b)(8)(i) (on page 6393, second column), to provide that a replacement or renewal Form I-765 is fee exempt for the groups identified above. <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">Cf.</E> 88 FR 402, 592-95 (Jan. 4, 2023) (proposed 8 CFR 106.2(a)(43)(v), (b)(3)(vi), (b)(8)(ii)). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD3">Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion</HD> The fee for Form I-290B is waivable for any benefit where the underlying form fee is free or waived. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> However, in the preamble DHS inadvertently omitted a fee waiver for Form I-765V, Application for Employment Authorization for Abused Nonimmigrant Spouse, in Table 5C. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Therefore, in Table 5C in the preamble (page 6230) in the row entitled “Abused Spouses of A, E-3, G, and H Nonimmigrants,” DHS adds the text “Form I-290B” to the third column to indicate that a requester can submit a request to waive the fee for filing a motion to reopen or reconsider the denial of their I-765V. <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3)(ii)(D); <E T="03">see also</E> 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3)(iii). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 6230. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD3">Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver</HD> The final rule also created an additional fee exemption for Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, when filed by a person seeking or granted Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification. <FTREF/> <SU>8</SU> However, DHS inadvertently omitted this fee exemption from the regulatory text and Table 5C. Therefore, in Table 5C in the preamble (on page 6231), in the row entitled “SIJs,” DHS is adding the text “Form I-601A” to the second column. In the regulatory text portion of the final rule, DHS adds 8 CFR 106.3(b)(1)(vii) (on page 6392) in the first column to indicate that Form I-601A is fee exempt for persons seeking or granted SIJ classification. <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 6214 (“DHS also provides a fee exemption for SIJs filing Form I-601A . . . .”); Table 5B; RIA Tables 46, 47. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD3">Adoption Fees</HD> The final rule provides fee exemptions for adoption-related forms and summarizes the new exemptions in Table 7: Adoption Fees. <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> However, this table was mistakenly referred to as “Table 8” in the preamble. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> DHS corrects the preamble on page 6307, third column, of the final rule to include proper reference to Table 7. <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 6308. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR at 6307 (“A summary of the new exemptions is listed in Table 8 below.”) </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD3">Special Rule Cancellation of Removal</HD> The final rule allows persons to request a waiver of any fee associated with a request for special rule cancellation of removal as a spouse or child that has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> The regulation text cites 8 U.S.C. 1229(b)(2) as the statute for this underlying benefit; however, the proper statutory citation is 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(2). The final rule mistakenly repeats a typo that originated in the proposed rule. <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> Therefore, DHS corrects the regulatory text, 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3)(iii) (on page 6392, first column) with the proper legal citation for special rule cancellation of removal for spouses and children who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3)(iii); 89 FR at 6392. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>12</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 88 FR at 594. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>13</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 88 FR at 6392, first column. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Online Filing Fee for Form I-539, Application To Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status</HD> In the preamble, DHS incorrectly stated the final online filing fee for Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. The final rule preamble stated that the Form I-539 fee for paper filing was $470 and the online filing fee was also $470. <SU>14</SU> <FTREF/> While DHS used the paper filing fee twice in the same sentence, it meant to include the $50 discount for online filing, making the Form I-539 fee $420 when filed online. <SU>15</SU> <FTREF/> DHS used the correct online filing fee of $420 elsewhere in the preamble, including Table 1. <SU>16</SU> <FTREF/> In the regulatory text, DHS did not exempt Form I-539 from the online filing discount. <SU>17</SU> <FTREF/> DHS corrects the preamble of the final rule on page 6329, second column, to include the proper online filing fee for Form I-539. <SU>18</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>14</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 6329, second column. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>15</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 8 CFR ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 32k characters. 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