Judge Rules Asylum Seekers Do Not Have to Pay Annual Fee, For Now
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill instituted a new fee system for people in the immigration system, including asylum seekers.
A judge has ruled that, for now, asylum seekers are not required to pay an annual fee for each year their application is pending. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP.)
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which became law on July 4, 2025, instituted a new fee system for people in the immigration system, including asylum seekers. The legislation requires that they pay a $100 filing fee and an Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) of $100 for each year their application is pending. The new law bars asylum seekers from obtaining fee waivers.
This is the first time in the history of the United States that asylum seekers have had to pay fees related to their applications. The U.S. is now one of the only countries in the world to impose fees on asylum seekers.
“The annual asylum fee imposes economic hardship on asylum seekers, many of whom have limited means,” ASAP’s complaint says. “That problem is magnified by USCIS’s [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] and EOIR’s [Executive Office for Immigration Review] retroactive application of the statute, which purports to require asylum seekers to come up with the funds on short (or no) notice.”
“The stakes for asylum seekers with pending applications could not be higher,” the complaint continues.
Failure to pay “will result in the denial or dismissal of their applications,” which can lead to loss of employment authorization and the ability to seek asylum, as well as “the obvious and severe risk of deportation to the countries from which applicants sought asylum in the first place, where they could face persecution, torture, or worse.”
ASAP welcomed the judge’s stay pausing implementation of the annual fee requirement.
“I have been so worried and confused about how or when to pay the annual asylum fee,” said Alba, an ASAP member and asylum seeker from Honduras, in a statement. “My family and I have been so anxious and unsure what to do next. With yesterday’s decision, I can breathe a little easier. This decision gives us a moment of peace while we keep fighting for fairness.”
The judge wrote that she will consider lifting the stay once “the agencies have enacted uniform policies providing asylum applicants with fair notice of the applicable fee deadline, the mechanism for payment, and the adverse consequences that might result from nonpayment.”
In addition to new fees for asylum seekers, the One Big Beautiful Bill also instituted or raised fees for other groups, including children who apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. They must pay a $250 application fee, although they can apply for fee waivers. The program allows abused, neglected, or abandoned children to legally stay in the United States and apply for lawful permanent residency and a work permit.
While immigrants are now required to pay a host of new or higher fees, the USCIS has also made it harder for people to make payments. Last month, the agency announced that it is only accepting electronic payments for paper-filed forms, although in “limited instances, benefit requestors and third-party payors may be exempt from submitting electronic payments.”
“Modernizing financial transactions to and from the federal government is a priority for the Trump administration,” said USCIS Spokesman Matthew Tragesser. “Over 90% of our payments come from checks and money orders, causing processing delays and increasing the risk of fraud and lost payments. This is a no-brainer move.”
The Trump administration often uses baseless accusations of fraud and inefficiency to undermine and block people’s access to government services.
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