🇺🇸 Avoid Costly Delays: Guide to USCIS’s New Work Permit Fees for Asylum, TPS & Parole

If you’re an asylum seeker, parolee or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder planning to apply for—or renew—your U.S. work permit (EAD), there’s a fee shake-up you can’t ignore. Applications postmarked on or after August 21, 2025 without the correct payment will be sent back. Read on to get the dates, fees and insider tips you need to file successfully.

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Table of Contents

What’s Changing and Why It Matters
Who Now Needs to Pay
The New Fee Schedule
Special Consideration for Re-Parole Requests
Critical Dates to Remember
How Long Will Your EAD Be Valid?
Tips to Avoid Rejection
Planning Ahead Is Key

What’s Changing and Why It Matters

Starting August 21, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is adding fees for categories that used to apply for EADs free of charge. If you don’t include the updated fee with Form I-765 when it’s mailed, your application—and any work plans tied to it—will be delayed or denied.

Who Now Needs to Pay

You must include the new fee if you’re filing Form I-765 under one of these statuses:

Asylum applicants
Individuals paroled into the U.S.
TPS beneficiaries

Green Card holders (Form I-551) and those in employer-sponsored visa categories like H-1B, L-1B, O or P remain exempt from the I-765 fee.

The New Fee Schedule

USCIS has broken out fees based on application type. Prepare to cover both the base USCIS filing charge and the new EAD fee:

Application Type	New EAD Fee
First-time work permit (Form I-765)	$550
Renewal or extension of EAD	$275
Asylum application (Form I-589)	$100
Annual asylum maintenance fee (while pending)	$100/year

Note: Annual asylum fees must be paid online at least once every 12 months until your asylum case is resolved.

Special Consideration for Re-Parole Requests

If you re-enter parole status by filing Form I-131, you’ll pay the $275 renewal fee instead of the full $550 first-time fee. Always review the fee instructions on the official USCIS site: https://www.uscis.gov/forms/form-i-765

Critical Dates to Remember

July 22, 2025
- Earliest date to start including the new fees with your forms.
August 21, 2025
- Any I-765 postmarked on or after this day without the correct fee will be rejected.

Mark these on your calendar and set a reminder. A simple oversight on the postmark can cost you weeks in lost eligibility.

How Long Will Your EAD Be Valid?

Your new work permit’s expiration now ties directly to your status:

Parolees: Valid up to 1 year or until parole ends, whichever comes first.
TPS holders: Same terms—up to 1 year or the end of TPS designation.

Always check the dates printed on the front of your EAD card when it arrives.

Tips to Avoid Rejection

Double-check which form you need: Form I-765 for EAD, Form I-589 for asylum, Form I-131 for parole.
Use USCIS’s official fee calculator: https://www.uscis.gov/feecalculator
Verify your postmark: Hand-stamp or send via USPS certified mail.
Include the correct fees in U.S. dollars; payments in other currencies or checks from foreign banks aren’t accepted.
Keep copies of everything: forms, fee receipts, mailing labels and tracking numbers.

Planning Ahead Is Key

These new fees don’t replace existing filing charges—they stack on top of them. If you’re juggling multiple forms, budget accordingly. A rejected application means starting over, extra fees and more waiting.

Stay informed by visiting https://www.uscis.gov/forms/all-forms

before you mail anything.

By understanding the updated fees, deadlines and validity rules now, you’ll dodge unexpected rejections and keep your work authorization on track.

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