Annual Asylum Fee: What to Know and How to Protect Your Case
The Annual Asylum Fee Is No Longer Paused. Here Is What That Means for Your Case.
If you have a pending asylum application in the United States, the government now requires you to pay a yearly fee for as long as your case stays open. This fee is called the annual asylum fee, and it is being collected right now.
The fee was created by a federal law called H.R. 1, signed on July 4, 2025. For 2026, the annual asylum fee is $102. A court briefly paused the fee in late 2025, but that pause ended on February 2, 2026, and the fee has been in effect ever since. A government rule that took effect on May 29, 2026 introduced serious penalties for not paying, including rejection of your asylum case, but a federal court in Massachusetts has blocked those penalties while it decides whether the rule is legal.
How the Fee Works
The annual asylum fee applies to anyone whose Form I-589 (the asylum application) has been pending for at least one year. It does not matter how long you have been waiting or why your case is still open. If the application is active, the fee is owed.
The government charges one fee per application, not per person. A family of four listed on the same I-589 owes one payment of $102, not four. There is no fee waiver available. Congress specifically prohibited waivers when it created the fee, so financial hardship does not change the requirement.
USCIS sends a payment notice with a 30-day deadline when the fee becomes due. In immigration court, the judge may set a shorter deadline, so always follow the exact date in the judge’s order. You pay online through the USCIS payment portal using your A-number and your I-589 receipt number.
What the Government Rule Says About Non-Payment
A government rule that took effect on May 29, 2026 spells out what is supposed to happen if you do not pay the annual asylum fee on time. The consequences written into the rule are severe, but as explained in the next section, a federal court has blocked these penalties for now.
For cases with USCIS (the agency that handles asylum applications filed outside of court), the rule says three things can happen. First, USCIS can reject your asylum application. That means the agency stops processing your case and your application is no longer active. Second, if you have a work permit based on your pending asylum case, USCIS can cancel that work permit. Third, if you do not have any other lawful immigration status, the government can begin the process of removing you from the country.
For cases in immigration court (which is run by a separate agency called EOIR, the Executive Office for Immigration Review), the judge can deny or dismiss your asylum claim if the fee goes unpaid. The exact process depends on the judge’s order and your hearing schedule.
A Federal Court Has Blocked the Penalties for Non-Payment
The most important thing to understand right now is this: while the annual asylum fee is still owed, the harshest penalties for not paying it have been blocked by a federal court. You should still check whether your fee is due and pay it as soon as you can, but USCIS cannot currently reject your case or start removal proceedings just because the fee went unpaid.
On August 5, 2026, Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a Memorandum and Order in Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. USCIS, Case No. 1:26-cv-13038. He granted a stay under 5 U.S.C. §705 blocking the consequences the rule imposes for non-payment, which include rejection of your asylum application and the start of removal proceedings, until the court issues a final ruling on the merits of the case. Your work permit depends on your asylum application, so if the application cannot be rejected, the work permit based on it is not at immediate risk either.
The court found that the organizations challenging the rule are likely to succeed because the April 2026 rule’s consequences affect substantive rights and were adopted without the public notice-and-comment process that federal law requires. The relief is universal, meaning it protects all asylum applicants nationwide, not just the organizations that filed the lawsuit.
But the order has clear limits. The court did not get rid of the annual asylum fee. It did not tell USCIS to stop collecting the fee. And it did not excuse anyone from the obligation to pay. USCIS has confirmed that it will keep sending payment notices and accepting payments. Because the policies challenged in the case were USCIS and DHS policies, the order does not reach the immigration courts, which operate under separate authority.
The same order also denied the challenge to a separate rule that removed the 30-day processing window for first-time asylum-based work permits. That means if you are applying for a work permit based on a pending asylum case for the first time, the process can now legitimately take longer than it did before the rule change.
The stay will remain in place until Judge Gorton issues a final decision on the merits or until a higher court modifies the order on appeal. It is not a temporary pause that can expire on a set date. However, the government may appeal, and the case is still being litigated, so the situation could still change.
The Fee Was Briefly Paused in Late 2025, but That Pause Has Ended
You may have heard that a court paused the annual asylum fee. That did happen, but the pause ended months ago, and the fee has been collectible ever since.
In October 2025, an organization called the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project filed a lawsuit (ASAP v. EOIR) in federal court in Maryland challenging how the government was rolling out the fee. On October 30, 2025, the court temporarily stopped the government from collecting it. That pause remained in effect until February 2, 2026, when the court lifted it after the government asked for it to be removed. Since that date, both USCIS and the immigration courts have been authorized to charge the annual asylum fee.
If you assumed the fee was still on hold, check immediately whether a payment is due by visiting the USCIS payment page.
Who Owes the Fee
The annual asylum fee may apply to you if your Form I-589 has been pending for at least one year. This is true whether your case is with USCIS or in immigration court. The fee is charged once per year for each pending application.
To check whether your fee is currently due, go to the USCIS payment page and enter your A-number and your I-589 receipt number. If the website lets you move forward to a payment screen, the fee is due and you should pay as soon as possible. If the website says the fee is not due at this time, check back later. USCIS is sending out notices on a rolling basis, and yours may not have been issued yet.
What You Should Do Now
If you have a pending asylum application, the safest step you can take is to check whether your fee is due and pay it as soon as the system allows. The court order protects you from the most serious penalties for now, but it does not remove the fee itself, and the case is still being litigated.
If you received a fee notice and missed the deadline, document everything. Take a screenshot or photo of any message on the USCIS payment website. Record the date. Contact USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 or through the online chat at uscis.gov to ask them to reopen your case for payment. Keep a record of every call and every service request number you receive.
If you already paid and have a receipt, hold on to it. You may need that documentation later.
If you are not sure whether you owe the fee, whether a payment went through, or how the court order affects your particular situation, the right next step is to talk to an attorney who can look at your specific filing dates, receipt numbers, and hearing schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to pay the annual asylum fee right now?
Check the USCIS payment page. If it lets you proceed to payment, the fee is due and you should pay as soon as possible. The fee is $102 per application for 2026. There is no fee waiver.
Can USCIS reject my case if I do not pay?
The government rule says it can, but a federal court has blocked that consequence while the case is being decided. The fee itself is still owed, and USCIS is still collecting it.
Does this affect my work permit?
Your work permit depends on your asylum application. While the court order prevents USCIS from rejecting your application for non-payment, your work permit is not at immediate risk for that reason.
Does the court order apply to immigration court cases?
The order addresses USCIS and DHS policies. It does not cover immigration court, which operates under separate authority. If your case is before an immigration judge, follow the deadline in the judge’s order.
What about the 30-day processing window for first-time work permits?
The court declined to block that change. First-time asylum-based work permits can now take longer than 30 days to process.
I missed the payment deadline. What happens now?
Document everything. Take a screenshot of any message on the USCIS payment website, record the date, and contact USCIS at 1-800-375-5283 or through the online chat at uscis.gov to ask them to reopen your case for payment. While the court order is in effect, USCIS cannot reject your application solely for non-payment, but you should still pay as soon as the system allows.
For another recent USCIS policy shift worth knowing about, see our explainer on Form I-485 and the new public charge standard.
Reach out to Brooks Law Firm today to schedule a free consultation, and we will give you an honest look at where your case stands and what your options are. Call (617) 245-8090.
