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USCIS fee calculator
Add up what the government actually charges for your filing — base fee, Asylum Program Fee, premium processing, and the statutory surcharges that catch employers out. Every amount is transcribed from USCIS Form G-1055, edition 05/29/26. Nothing here is an estimate.
$1,880
Government fees only. Attorney and platform fees are separate.
- I-129 base filing feePaper filing$780
- Asylum Program FeeRegular petitioner rate$600
- Fraud Prevention and Detection feeRequired on an initial H-1B or a change of employer. Cannot be waived.$500
All amounts are transcribed from USCIS Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 05/29/26. Verify against the current G-1055 on uscis.gov before you file — USCIS changes fees without much notice, and a petition filed with the wrong fee gets rejected.
What the government fee covers — and what it does not
USCIS fees pay for adjudication. They do not pay for the work of building the petition: the evidence strategy, the exhibit index, the legal argument tying your record to the regulatory criteria, and the attorney who signs it. That work is priced separately, and how it is priced varies wildly across the market — hourly billing, staged retainers, or a flat fee. VisaSherpa charges a flat fee with a refund if USCIS denies the petition. See pricing and the refund policy.
Two line items surprise people most often. The first is the Asylum Program Fee, a $600 surcharge on Forms I-129 and I-140 that has nothing to do with asylum and everything to do with how Congress funded the asylum system. The second is the Public Law 114-113 surcharge — $4,000 on an H-1B and $4,500 on an L-1 — which lands on employers with 50 or more U.S. employees where more than half hold H-1B or L status. Neither is optional when it applies.
Common questions
Are USCIS filing fees refundable if my petition is denied?
No. Fees paid to USCIS are paid for adjudicating the request, not for approving it, and they are not returned if the petition is denied or withdrawn. That is why VisaSherpa's refund-on-denial policy covers our flat fee only — the government portion is gone either way.
What is the Asylum Program Fee and why is it on my H-1B petition?
It is a $600 surcharge Congress attached to employment-based petitions on Forms I-129 and I-140 to fund the asylum program. Nonprofits pay $0 and small employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees pay $300. It has nothing to do with whether anyone in your case is seeking asylum.
Does premium processing make approval more likely?
No. Form I-907 buys a faster response window from USCIS — the officer still applies the same standard to the same record. It is worth paying when a start date or a status gap depends on the timing, and not worth paying to compensate for a weak petition.
Can my employer make me pay the H-1B fees?
Not all of them. Department of Labor rules bar an employer from passing the ACWIA fee and the Fraud Prevention and Detection fee to the H-1B worker, and no fee may be shifted if it drops the worker's pay below the required wage. Ask the attorney handling your case which specific fees are yours to pay.
How current are these amounts?
Every number comes from USCIS Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 05/29/26. USCIS revises the schedule periodically, so confirm against the current G-1055 on uscis.gov before you write the check — a petition filed with the wrong fee is rejected and has to be refiled.
Source: USCIS Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 05/29/26 — uscis.gov/g-1055. Blank USCIS forms are always free at uscis.gov.