According to the United States government, many fees involving immigration will rise beginning in the first month of 2026, after a self-inflation-adjustment system that is authorised by recent federal laws. Although the revision applies to all categories, its effects on the majority of the Indian applicants might not be significant, yet it is not null.
Based on a notice in the Federal Register, the new schedule will be effective on all applications marked after the effective date. The change will include a series of immigration benefits, such as some work authorisation requests and parole applications, as well as minor increases in electronic travel authorisation systems and border-related fees.
Fee adjustments
The filing fee in Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorisation) will also be slightly higher as well as the fees in the category of parole-in-lieu-of-visa. The rises are generally small-scale, between USD 10 and USD 20, which is an effect of inflation, as opposed to a fundamental change in the U.S. immigration system.
India is not a U.S. participant in the Visa Waiver Programme, so the modifications to the Electronic System of Travel Authorisation (ESTA) and the Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) do not directly impact Indian travellers.
Impact on Indian applicants
The immigration experts are also observing that the revision of the fees will not have much direct effect on most of the Indian applicants, especially those who seek B-1/B-2 tourist visa, an F-1 student visa, or the most common non-immigrant groups. These applicants relate mostly to the consular charges imposed by the U.S. Department of State, which are not under the present revision.
Nonetheless, the modification might impact Indian nationals who are:
Application to obtain employment authorisation in the United States, application for humanitarian parole, or making applications that are classified as either specialised or less popular immigration routes.
In the case of these categories, the updated fee system can make the cost of remaining legal or obtaining employment rights more expensive.
Advisory for applicants
Lawyers encourage applicants in their more developed documentation stages to file the applicable forms much earlier than January 1, 2026, to avoid charges. To people who are intending to relocate within the next year, especially those in the IT and research fields, the fee increment will not affect decision-making, but can be part of the increased ancillary expenses of international migration.
Broader context
The 2026 revision is one of the wider patterns of cost-recovery in the U.S. immigration agencies. Although the changes as announced are not very radical, it is observed that future policy modifications, especially regarding employment-based immigration, could be even more decisive in terms of impact on Indian applicants, who form one of the largest groups of skilled workers looking to gain access to the United States.At this point, the new pricing is an indicator of administrative change and not an immigration policy change. However, with backlogs in processing and demand on the increase, it is important that applicants keep a closer eye on the future regulatory announcements.
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