Today marked the last day that the US asylum and refugee programs are operational. An unexpected last minute change in the homeland security bill has left them without funding. Historically, the fees for immigration benefits have included a surcharge of about $50, which is used to fund processing of asylum and refugee applications, because the applicants themselves do not pay a fee. Advocates have long sought to have the government directly fund this processing, and has secured a provision providing such funding. But as final changes were made to the language of the bill, this funding was cut, while language eliminating the surcharge was retained.

The practical effect of this, apart from the fact that processing asylum and refugee applications will be uncertain until funding is provided, is that fees for other INS applications will go down. The INS says that rather than reject applications accompanied by the stated fee (including the surcharge), it will accept these cases and set up a system to provide refunds.

The new fees are listed below.

Form	Description	New Fee	Old Fee
I-17	Petition for Approve of School	$167	$230
I-90	Application to Replace Alien Registration Card	$95	$130
I-102	Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival/Departure Document	$73	$100
I-129	Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker	$96	$130
I-129F	Petition for Alien Fiance(e)	$81	$110
I-130	Petition for Alien Relative	$96	$130
I-131	Application for Travel Document	$80	$110
I-140	Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker	$99	$140
I-191	Application for Advance Permission to Return to Unrelinquished Domicile	$142	$195
I-192	Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant	$142	$195
I-193	Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa	$142	$195
I-212	Application to Reapply for Admission to the US after Deportation	$142	$195
I-485	Application to Register Permanent Resident of Adjust Status	$186	$255
I-526	Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur	$290	$400
I-539	Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status	$102	$140
I-600/600A	Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative/Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition	$332	$460
I-601	Application for Waiver on Grounds of Excludability	$142	$195
I-612	Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement	$142	$195
I-751	Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence	$105	$145
I-765	Application for Employment Authorization	$88	$120
I-817	Application for Family Unity Benefits	$104	$140
I-824	Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition	$104	$140
I-829	Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions	$286	$395
N-400	Application for Naturalization	$188	$260
N-565	Application for Replacement of Naturalization/Citizenship Document	$113	$155
N-600	Application for Certificate of Citizenship	$134	$185
N-643	Application for Certificate of Citizenship on Behalf of an Adopted Child	$105	$145