Original Date Announced

EOIR Acting Director Sirce Owen issued Policy Memorandum ("PM") 25-35, "Statutory Fees Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act." to implement the July 4, 2025 reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), which made several changes to immigration-related fees. This PM updated PM 21‑10 to reflect new OBBA fee schedules, including an $100 filing fee for asylum application, an $100 annual fee to maintain pending asylum case, and other fees for appeals and motions before EOIR. It also prohibited certain fees from waived or reduced including the initial asylum application fee, the annual asylum fee, and the TPS fee. Trump 2.0 [ID #1943].

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

EOIR - PM 25-36

EOIR Acting Director Sirce Owen issued Policy Memorandum ("PM") 25-36, "Statutory Fees Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act." The PM supersedes and replaces the recently issued PM 25-35, "Statutory Fees Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act," to clarify certain points for adjudicators about changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBBA"). PM 25-36 explains how EOIR is implementing immediately new immigration fees and making fee waiver changes pursuant to the OBBBA. The memo points out that any EOIR's regulations on fees are superseded by the legislation, and rulemaking will follow.

The memo re-emphasizes the policy that EOIR has a statutory authority to "set fees to ensure full cost recovery." First, there are now new fees implemented or increased by the OBBBA relating to EOIR proceedings and BIA appeals are in addition to other fees authorized by law. This includes the new fee requirement for initial asylum applications and annual fees for each year the application is pending. Second, the OBBBA does not affect the validity of EOIR’s fee waiver request form, and that the guidance contained in PM 21-10 regarding practices for the adjudication of fee waiver requests remains valid. However, certain fees cannot be waived or reduced -- specifically, the initial asylum application fee, the annual asylum fee, and the Temporary Protected Status fee. Third, fees can be increased further, and EOIR will continue to review its fees on at least a biennial basis, if not more frequently, to determine whether any further fee adjustments are warranted. This will include any annual inflation adjustment.

Finally, the PM lists the new fees, effective immediately, that EOIR will charge for applications for relief, protection from removal, appeals, and motions.

In summary, on July 9, 2025, EOIR issued PM 25-35 as guidance that interpreted the OBBA listed fee amounts as being the complete EOIR-related fees, but on July 17, 2025, EOIR issued the subsequent PM 25-36, which adds the OBBA fees to previously existing fee amounts, therefore making them more expensive. The EOIR webpage titled “Types of Appeals, Motions, and Required Fees” and the “EOIR Forms” webpage now also calculate the fees based on the OBBA fee added to existing fees, rather than just the OBBA fee.