Temporary Stay of the Annual Asylum Fee Implementation

Several new USCIS fees were introduced as part of President Trump’s July 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (“HR-1”). One of these new fees was the Annual Asylum Fee or “AAF.” This is a $100 fee that an asylum applicant must pay when filing a new Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, postmarked on or after July 22, 2025. That $100 fee is also due each calendar year that a Form I-589 filed after October 1, 2024 remains pending adjudication with USCIS. This fee cannot be waived, even if the applicant qualifies for other USCIS fee waivers. On October 1, 2025, USCIS began sending notices to individuals with pending Forms I-589 instructing them to pay their AAF. 

On October 30, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland issued an order in Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al., SAG-25-03299 (D. Md.), temporarily staying implementation of the AAF. USCIS stated it “strongly disagrees with the Court’s order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.”

USCIS has paused the issuance of notices to applicants mandating payment of the AAF. According to a November 7 USCIS news release, “[a]ny applicant who has received a notice from USCIS instructing him or her to pay the AAF may disregard that notice while the temporary stay is in place.” USCIS will not, however, issue refunds for AAFs that were previously paid. Applicants who paid the fee should retain their receipts and await further USCIS updates pending further litigation. Note that the USCIS website allowing an individual to pay the AAF is active at the time of this publication, with no mention of the temporary stay.

Sources

Court Order on Annual Asylum Fee Notices | USCIS, 7 Nov. 2025, www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/court-order-on-annual-asylum-fee-notices. 

“The Federal Register: USCIS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill.” Federal Register: USCIS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill, Homeland Security Department, 22 July 2025, www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/22/2025-13738/uscis-immigration-fees-required-by-hr-1-reconciliation-bill.