USCIS Premium Fee Increase and Artists from Banned Countries
PREMIUM PROCESSING INCREASE
The Premium Processing fee will be increased to $2,965 USD effective March 1st.
Although the increase at the USCIS end is March 1st, the latest that the AFM Canadian Office can receive a Premium Processing application with the present fee of $2,805 will be February 19th. The AFM’s Immigration Administrators require time to review and process the petition. After AFM-petition processing, it takes 12-24 hours [during standard business days] before the USCIS office will receive the petition from AFM. Below you will find an excerpt from an announcement of this USCIS increase.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is publishing a final rule that will increase USCIS fees for premium processing to reflect the amount of inflation from June 2023 through June 2025.
The USCIS Stabilization Act established the authority for DHS to adjust premium processing fees every two years to account for inflation. Fees will continue to be adjusted agencywide to account for inflation and protect the real dollar value of the premium processing service we provide. The revenue generated by this fee increase will be used to provide premium processing services; make improvements to adjudication processes; respond to adjudication demands, including processing backlogs; and otherwise fund USCIS adjudication and naturalization services.
This rule is effective on March 1, 2026. If you submit a request for premium processing postmarked on or after March 1, 2026, you must include the new fee for the specific benefit you are requesting.”
TRAVEL BANS
Members born in one of the countries listed below who have since obtained Canadian Citizenship, should not be subject to paused petitioning or visa denial. However, late last week it came to the AFM’s attention that USCIS Adjudicators have paused petitioning on a few affected Member petitions, contrary to the U.S. policy. For intricate details presented directly by US immigration attorneys, you may view this webinar: direct link to the youtube.
If any such Member insists, the AFM Canadian Office will proceed with petitioning on behalf of Canadian Citizens who were born in any of the countries listed below, but they suggest extreme caution to the affected Members and will not take responsibility for processing delays/denials, as USCIS Adjudicators are not currently following Policy.
United States Travel Ban list, effective January 14, 2026:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Myanmar, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen
Additional information:
“On January 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of State announced it would be suspending processing for immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries, effective January 21. *Exceptions include dual nationals with a valid passport for a country not on the list or if the applicant is able to demonstrate their travel would service an “America First” national interest. If a visa has already been approved but the visa has not been printed, consular officers have been instructed to refuse the case. These 75 countries have been selected because the Administration has deemed its citizens may rely on U.S. government benefits for basic needs.”
* Per policy, but not (yet) realized in USCIS Adjudication process
