the NEW annual Asylum fee
On July 4, 2025, the U.S. government passed a law that created new fees for asylum applicants. These fees include a $100 Annual Asylum Fee for certain individuals who previously filed an asylum application, and their asylum application remains pending.
If you filed an asylum application (Form I-589) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at least a year ago and your application is still pending with USCIS:
You may have already received a notice in the mail from USCIS or on your USCIS online account requiring you to pay the Annual Asylum Fee within 30 days of the date the notice was issued. Note: If you are an ACT Immigration Law client, please notify your attorney if you receive a notice about the Annual Asylum Fee by mail or online.
However, ACT Immigration Law has received reports that some notices have been mailed to the wrong address. For that reason, ACT Immigration Law recommends that you check USCIS’ Annual Asylum Fee payment page to confirm whether you can pay the $100 fee yet. Enter your case number (“A” number) and Receipt Number and click “Continue to Payment” to confirm whether you need to pay the fee now. You can find these numbers on your asylum application (I-589) Receipt Notice. Click on these links for help finding your case number (“A” number) and Receipt Number in English or Spanish.
If you see a blue button that says “Pay and Submit,” you can pay the Annual Asylum Fee now. If you see an alert at the top of the page, saying “At this time, the Annual Asylum Fee payment is not due for this case. USCIS will issue a notice the first time the Annual Asylum Fee is due,” you cannot pay the Annual Asylum Fee yet. If you see this alert, ACT Immigration Law recommends that you check the website again at least once a week to confirm whether you can pay the Annual Asylum Fee yet.
If you can pay the Annual Asylum Fee now, click the blue button that says “Pay and Submit” and enter your credit card, debit card, or U.S. bank account information. Before you submit your payment, write down or screen shot the the Agency Tracking ID at the top of the page, save it in a safe place, and share it with your lawyer (YOU MAY NEED THIS NUMBER IN THE FUTURE TO PROVE THAT YOU PAID THE FEE!!!). Then click the blue button that says “Continue” to submit your payment.
After you pay the Annual Asylum Fee to USCIS, you should receive a receipt for your payment by mail or in your USCIS online account. See an example here (Source: Asylum Seekers Advocacy Project). When you get your receipt, send a copy to your lawyer.
PLEASE NOTE: In most cases, if you have a case in Immigration Court you do NOT need to pay the Annual Asylum Fee to USCIS (there are a few exceptions). If you are an ACT Immigration Law client and ACT Immigration Law confirms that you need to pay the Annual Asylum Fee to USCIS before October 31, 2025, ACT Immigration Law staff will contact you in the next few days to make sure you are able to pay the Annual Asylum Fee on time.
If you filed an asylum application (Form I-589) at least a year ago and your application is currently pending with a U.S. Immigration Court:
It is now possible to pay the $100 Annual Asylum Fee to the Immigration Courts (called the Executive Office for Immigration Review or EOIR) through the EOIR Payment Portal. However, you do not need to pay the fee until you receive a billing notice from an Immigration Court. The billing notice should say that your payment is due 30 days after the notice is issued. Note: If you are an ACT Immigration Law client and ACT Immigration Law receives an Annual Asylum Fee billing notice from the Immigration Court on your behalf, ACT Immigration Law will notify you of the billing notice and the deadline to pay the fee.
When you receive your billing notice from the Immigration Court, go to the EOIR Payment Portal, enter your case number (“A” Number), click on the drop down menu for “Filing Type,” select the option that says “Annual Asylum Fee (AAF) – Pending Application for Asylum,” and make a $100 payment. Make sure to save your payment receipt and provide a copy of the receipt to your attorney.
If you already tried to pay the Annual Asylum Fee to the Immigration Courts by selecting the filing type “Court - I-589, Application for Asylum - Initial Fee” on the EOIR Payment Portal, the Director of EOIR stated that advance payments will be applied to the fees you owe once your billing notice is issued. However, the government has not yet released any information about to process to get credit for an advance payment. Note: If ACT Immigration Law obtains additional information about the process to get credit for an advance payment, ACT Immigration Law will notify impacted clients of ACT Immigration Law.
Other Important Notes:
If you do not have a bank account or a credit or debit card, you can use cash to buy a pre-paid debit card to make the payment. Make sure to add extra money to the card to cover any transaction fees.
You only need to pay one Annual Asylum Fee for each asylum application (Form I-589) filed. For example, if a father filed an asylum application and included his wife and three children in his application, he must pay a total fee of $100, not $500. However, if his wife and three children also filed separate independent asylum applications in addition to being included in the father’s application, each family member must pay a fee of $100, and the family would have to pay $500 total.
If you are an ACT Immigration Law client and you have recently moved, please contact our office at (720)507-3272 or info@actimmigrationlaw.com to give us your new mailing address. We will update your address with USCIS and the Immigration Court, as applicable, to make sure you do not miss any mail regarding the annual asylum fee.
Last updated 10/27/2025