US Department of Homeland Security Updates Immigration-Related Forms, Fees and Penalties

For 2024, employers should be aware of changes at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security relating to immigration and employment. Specifically, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated employment-based visa request forms and fees, while penalties administered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased in compliance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015.

USCIS Publishes New Forms and Fees Effective April 1

On Jan. 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a final rule to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees for the first time since 2016. The new fees under the final rule will go into effect on April 1. According to the press release, the USCIS encourages stakeholders to visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on its website to view a full list of the revised forms that will go into effect on April 1, along with the new fees. For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov.

Immigration-Related Penalties Increase in 2024

On Feb. 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement began assessing increased penalties for employment-related violations as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015, which mandates penalties adjust with inflation. ABC General Counsel Littler Mendelson published an analysis of the penalty increases and  recommends “all employers to pay careful attention to their I-9 forms and strongly consider conducting an internal I-9 audit in order to remediate, as much as possible, the I-9 errors.” Employers are advised to contact their immigration or employment counsel with questions.