The $105 Annual Asylum Fee: who owes it, when it is due, and what happens if you do not pay

For most of its history, asylum cost nothing to apply for. That changed with H.R. 1, Pub. L. 119-21, in July 2025. Asylum now has a $100 filing fee and, separately, a recurring Annual Asylum Fee that you pay every year your application stays pending.

This post covers the annual fee: who owes it, when it is due, what the rule says happens if you do not pay, and what a federal court in Massachusetts has done about those penalties.

Who owes the fee, and how much

The Annual Asylum Fee is $105 per calendar year while your Form I-589 is pending. It was $102 before the fiscal year 2027 inflation adjustment, explained below. It cannot be waived, and it is paid online.

Only the principal applicant pays. If your spouse and children are listed on your I-589 as dependents, they do not owe their own annual fee, according to USCIS Form G-1055. The same is true of the $100 filing fee, which we cover in our post on the I-589 filing fee.

"Pending" is read broadly. The government counts any application pending with any federal agency, court, or other body with jurisdiction over asylum claims. A case that is on appeal is still pending, so the fee does not stop just because your case left the asylum office or the immigration judge.

The fee is charged in immigration court too. EOIR's regulations at 8 C.F.R. 1103.7(b)(4)(iii) add the annual fee for defensive filings, and EOIR fees are paid through the EOIR Payment Portal.

When it is due: the two rules

There are two due-date rules. Which one applies depends on when your case started.

Either way, the payment window is 30 days from the date on the notice. That is the date printed on the notice, not the day it reached your mailbox, so open government mail as soon as it arrives.

What the rule says happens if you do not pay

Under the April 2026 interim final rule, 91 FR 22952, the consequences of nonpayment are serious:

• Your I-589 is rejected after a 30-day notice period.
• Your asylum-based work permit can be denied or terminated.
• A Notice to Appear, or expedited removal, may follow.

A rejected I-589 is not a small thing. It can cost you the filing date you have been relying on, which matters for the one-year deadline. Our post on one-year deadline exceptions explains why that date is so important.

The court stay in VAM v. USCIS

On August 5, 2026, Judge Gorton of the federal district court in Massachusetts granted a stay in Venezuelan Ass'n of Massachusetts v. USCIS, No. 1:26-cv-13038. The order stays "the implementation of consequences for failure to pay the Annual Asylum Fee" until the court issues a final ruling on the merits. The court treated the relief as universal, meaning it is not limited to the people who sued. The court denied the plaintiffs' request as to the other policies they challenged.

The appeal filed so far, in the First Circuit, concerns a different part of the ruling about TPS work permits, not the asylum fee. As of November 5, 2026, the stay of the fee penalties remained in place, with no merits ruling and no set end date.

Two things the stay does not do. First, it does not stop USCIS from charging and collecting the fee. USCIS's own payment page says it is letting applicants who missed a due date pay while the case is decided. Second, the order speaks of "consequences" in general terms. The court's opinion discusses rejection of the I-589 and Notices to Appear. Whether and how it reaches work permit termination is something your lawyer should look at with you.

In immigration court: Matter of L-F-R-

On July 24, 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals decided Matter of L-F-R-, 29 I&N Dec. 787. It held two things.

1. If you fail to pay the annual fee by the deadline, your asylum application "should be pretermitted or deemed abandoned." In plain terms, the judge can end your asylum claim without hearing it.
2. The fee and its consequences "do not extend to" statutory withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture.

So even if asylum is lost for nonpayment, withholding and CAT claims survive. Those protections are narrower than asylum, which we explain in asylum, withholding and CAT compared. It is a backstop, not a plan.

The VAM stay is a case against USCIS. How it interacts with L-F-R- for a case already in immigration court is a question for your lawyer, based on where your case sits right now.

What to do now

• Pay the fee when it is due, even while the stay is in place.
• Keep the receipt. Save the electronic confirmation and print a copy. If you are in immigration court, the downloadable EOIR receipt must go with your filing.
• Mark both dates on your calendar: the due date and the end of the 30-day window from the notice date.
• Keep your address current with USCIS and, if you are in court, with EOIR, so notices reach you.

The fee is adjusted for inflation each year. The fiscal year 2027 notices raise it from $102 to $105 for USCIS filings postmarked on or after October 16, 2026 (91 FR 62540) and for filings with EOIR on or after October 1, 2026 (91 FR 61447). The USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 dated October 1, 2026, still prints $102, so it may lag the notice.

The rules on this fee have changed several times in a year. If you are unsure whether you owe the fee, when it is due, or whether a missed payment has put your case at risk, talk to an immigration lawyer about your own situation.