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The asylum application fee and annual asylum feeAsylum fees and the annual asylum fee

Wang Law Firm, LLC · David Wang, Managing Attorney · Attorney-reviewed · Updated October 2026

Start here: ① Since 2025, filing an asylum application requires an asylum application fee, and once the application has been pending for a year, an annual asylum fee (Annual Asylum Fee, AAF) is due each year. ② By law these fees cannot be waived; an I-912 fee waiver request does not apply. ③ If your case is with USCIS, pay online as the USCIS notice instructs; if your case is in immigration court, pay through the EOIR payment system as the judge’s written order instructs. The two have different rules. ④ As of October 2026, a court has stayed USCIS’s penalties for unpaid annual fees but has not eliminated the fee. ⑤ The safest approach: pay on time when you receive a notice, keep the receipt, and update your address promptly when it changes.

H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21), signed on July 4, 2025, for the first time set statutory fees for U.S. asylum applications and charged fees for asylum applicants’ work permits. Many applicants had never paid anything for asylum before, and some say they never received a notice and ended up missing the deadline. This article explains what the fees are, who must pay, how to pay, what happens if you do not, and where the related litigation stands.

1. What statutory fees are there

The “statutory amount” in the table below is the starting amount written into the law, adjusted each year thereafter for inflation (CPI-U). The amount actually due is as currently published by USCIS and EOIR.

Fee	Legal basis	Statutory amount	Published amount as of October 2026
Asylum application fee (when filing the I-589)	8 U.S.C. 1802	At least $100	$100 (charged by both USCIS and the immigration courts)
Annual asylum fee (each year the application is pending)	8 U.S.C. 1808	At least $100	$105 (immigration courts from October 1, 2026; USCIS from about October 16)
Initial work permit for asylum applicants ((c)(8) category)	8 U.S.C. 1803(a)	At least $550	$570 (USCIS from mid-October 2026)
Work permit renewal for asylum applicants	H.R. 1 section 100011	$275	$275 (the law provides no inflation adjustment)
Parole fee	8 U.S.C. 1804	At least $1,000, with statutory exceptions	$1,050 (USCIS from mid-October 2026)

When renewing a work permit, in addition to the H.R. 1 fee you may also have to pay the existing USCIS I-765 filing fee; rely on the USCIS Fee Schedule G-1055. For the work permit waiting period, validity and renewals, see Asylum work permits.

2. The annual asylum fee: who pays and when

The law requires the annual fee to be paid once for each year an asylum application remains pending. It does not matter whether you have a work permit or who caused the case to be delayed.

Cases with USCIS (affirmative applications)

Under DHS’s interim final rule published on April 29, 2026 (effective May 29, 2026), USCIS sends a separate notice stating the amount, deadline and payment method, and applicants generally have 30 days to pay. The notice may be mailed or may appear in your USCIS online account.
The annual fee is charged “per application”: a spouse and children listed on the principal applicant’s I-589 generally do not pay separately; people who each filed their own I-589 pay separately.
Not receiving a notice does not mean you do not have to pay. Some people report never receiving a notice and discovering only by checking online that the deadline had passed. We recommend logging in regularly to check.

Cases in immigration court (EOIR)

According to EOIR’s official guidance, an asylum application that had been pending for one year on or after October 1, 2025 owes the annual fee, and it is owed again each time another 365 days pass.
The immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issues a written order stating the payment requirement and deadline. The deadline may be shorter than at USCIS, so read it carefully.
After a case moves from USCIS to immigration court, follow the court’s rules; do not assume that because you paid at USCIS you have nothing more to do. Ask an attorney about the specifics.

3. How to pay

Where your case is	How to pay	What to keep
USCIS	Online only: through the annual asylum fee payment page in your USCIS online account, entering your A-number and I-589 receipt number (not your work permit receipt number). The application fee for a newly filed I-589 is paid with the application as the form instructions describe	A screenshot of the payment confirmation page, the transaction number, and the receipt issued by USCIS
Immigration court / BIA	Only through the EOIR payment system (EOIR Payment Portal): choose the annual asylum fee as the payment type, enter your A-number and pay. Debit cards, credit cards, bank accounts and similar methods are accepted; since February 23, 2026, EOIR no longer accepts checks or money orders	Immediately after paying, save or print the electronic receipt and Tracking ID (no email is sent), and file proof of payment with the court as the judge requires

EOIR does not accept installment or split payments; electronic payments are charged immediately, and there is no automatic refund if the application is rejected or denied. When USCIS rejects an I-589, it generally does not refund the asylum application fee already paid either. So before paying, double-check your A-number, case type and amount.

4. Consequences of not paying and the status of litigation (as of October 2026)

What the rules say

USCIS: Under the 2026 interim final rule, if you do not pay within 30 days of receiving a notice, USCIS may reject your pending I-589; a pending work permit based on that application is rejected or denied, an existing asylum work permit terminates immediately, and people without lawful status may be placed in removal proceedings.
Immigration court: In Matter of L-F-R-, 29 I&N Dec. 787 (BIA July 24, 2026), the BIA held that if the annual fee is not paid by the deadline, the asylum application may be pretermitted or deemed abandoned; but the annual fee and its consequences do not apply to withholding of removal or protection under the Convention against Torture (CAT).

What the courts have ruled

Case	Court and date	Result
VAM v. USCIS (Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. USCIS, No. 1:26-cv-13038)	U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; temporary stay on July 21, 2026, extended by ruling on August 5	Under 5 U.S.C. 705, stays USCIS’s penalties for unpaid annual fees, such as rejecting asylum applications, terminating work permits and initiating removal, until a decision on the merits; it does not stop USCIS from collecting the fee and does not bind the immigration courts
ASAP v. EOIR (Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project v. EOIR, No. 1:25-cv-03299)	U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; September 22, 2026	Partly for the plaintiffs: vacated EOIR’s January 2, 2026 annual fee enforcement memo and standard payment order template (one reason being failure to adequately consider the hardship caused by the proof-of-payment requirement); rejected the “retroactivity” claim; did not prohibit collecting the fee and did not order refunds

This means: at USCIS, your application currently will not be rejected solely for nonpayment of the annual fee, but the fee must still be paid, and the stay could be changed by a higher court or end after a decision on the merits; in immigration court, the annual fee is still required by law and Matter of L-F-R- remains in effect, and we have not yet seen formal new guidance on how EOIR will adjust its practices after the September 22 ruling. As of the time this article was checked, we found no appellate rulings in either case. For litigation updates, see the Immigration litigation tracker and Policy updates.

5. Can the fees be waived or deferred

No. The law expressly provides that these fees “shall not be waived or reduced.” USCIS has stated that it does not accept I-912 fee waiver requests for H.R. 1 fees, and EOIR has also stated that the asylum application fee and the annual fee cannot be waived. If you face financial hardship, you can seek help from free legal service providers, but do not expect the fee itself to be waived.

Payment self-check list

I know whether my case is currently with USCIS or in immigration court, and I have my A-number and I-589 receipt number at hand
I log in to my USCIS online account regularly to check the annual fee status; if my case is in court, I watch for the judge’s written orders and deadlines
After paying, I save the screenshot, electronic receipt and transaction number, keeping both paper and electronic copies
If the judge requires proof of payment, I file it on time
After moving, I update my address with USCIS within 10 days; if my case is in court, I file EOIR-33 within 5 days (see Keeping your case safe)
If I miss a deadline or the system shows something unusual, I take screenshots as evidence immediately and contact an attorney as soon as possible

Common misconceptions

“The courts have already eliminated the annual fee.” No. Neither case held the statutory fee invalid, and neither prohibited collecting it.
“If I didn’t get a notice, I don’t have to pay.” That is not safe. Wrong addresses and mail delays happen; check proactively.
“Everyone in the family has to pay separately.” At USCIS, family members included as derivatives of the principal applicant generally do not pay separately; only those who filed separately pay separately. In court cases, the judge’s order controls.
“Paying will make my case faster or more likely to be approved.” No. Paying is only a procedural requirement and has nothing to do with the outcome of the case.
“I can just have an agent pay for me.” Payment must use your own case information, and you must keep the receipts yourself. Do not give your account password to a non-attorney intermediary.

How we can help

Confirm which agency your case is with, whether a payment year has been reached and how much is owed;
Help you pay correctly at USCIS or EOIR and organize your proof of payment;
If you have missed a deadline, your application has been rejected or your work permit has been terminated, assess the available remedies;
Represent you at hearings in immigration court and make sure your withholding of removal and CAT claims are heard.

Frequently asked questions

I filed my asylum application in 2023. Do I have to pay the annual fee too?

Yes. The law charges the fee “for each year the application is pending,” and the court also rejected the claim that it cannot apply retroactively. If your case is with USCIS, pay as the notice instructs; if it is in court, pay as the judge orders.

Since the court stayed the penalties, can I hold off on paying?

We do not recommend it. VAM v. USCIS stayed USCIS’s penalties, not the fee itself; the stay may change, and it does not bind the immigration courts. Paying on time and keeping the receipt carries the least risk.

What happens to my asylum claim if I don’t pay the annual fee in immigration court?

Under Matter of L-F-R-, the asylum application may be pretermitted or deemed abandoned, but withholding of removal and CAT must still be heard. Those two cannot lead to a green card or be extended to family members, and their protection is much narrower than asylum, so do not lose your asylum claim over the annual fee.

What if I paid the wrong amount or paid twice?

For duplicate EOIR payments, contact the EOIR fee email address as the payment system instructions describe; for USCIS issues, contact USCIS customer service. Keep all payment records and consult an attorney as soon as possible.

Will the annual fee go up every year?

It is adjusted for inflation. From October 2026 the annual fee is $105; after that, rely on the amounts USCIS and EOIR publish each year.