(UNITED STATES) — USCIS has raised the total cost of a general Form I-102 filing to $584 under a new interim final rule that adds a $24 Form I-94 fee required by H.R. 1 to the existing $560 filing fee.

The increase affects many nonimmigrants who need a replacement or initial arrival and departure record. USCIS applies the added fee when a person directly files Form I-102 to request a Form I-94 record, a step that can follow a lost, incorrect, missing or damaged document.

The rule does not apply simply because USCIS creates or updates an I-94 while approving another immigration benefit, such as an extension or change of status. In those cases, the agency treats the I-94 as incidental to the main benefit rather than a direct request for the record itself.

What Form I-94 Shows

Form I-94 serves as the U.S. arrival and departure record issued to many nonimmigrants when they enter the United States or when they extend or change status inside the country. It may show a name, date of birth, passport details, class of admission, date of entry, an “admit until” date, and the I-94 admission record number.

That “admit until” date carries unusual weight in immigration practice because it usually controls how long a person is authorized to remain in the United States after admission. A valid visa stamp may allow travel to a U.S. port of entry, but it does not necessarily govern the full period of lawful stay once the person has entered.

A traveler may hold a visa stamp valid for five years and still receive a shorter period of stay on the I-94. In that situation, the I-94 date controls. The mismatch can leave students, workers, visitors and dependents out of status if they rely on the visa stamp instead of the admission record.

Why the I-94 Matters

That distinction explains why immigration lawyers and school officials have long treated the I-94 as one of the first documents to review after entry. A wrong class of admission, a shortened date, or a record that does not appear online can affect employment verification, Social Security number applications, driver’s license applications, school records, extension filings, change-of-status applications and future visa applications.

Form I-102, formally called Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document, exists for some of those problems but not all of them. USCIS uses it in certain cases when an I-94, I-94W or I-95 was lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed, or when a person needs an initial document in limited situations.

Some missing-record cases also can lead to an I-102 filing if the document cannot be retrieved through the normal online system. But the filing route depends on the facts. A person who sees an I-94 problem at once does not necessarily need to file the form immediately, even under the new USCIS fee rule.

Fee Breakdown and Exceptions

USCIS drew that line in the new rule by stating that the H.R. 1 fee applies to direct I-94 requests through Form I-102. It also set out narrow exceptions. A general filing now totals $584, made up of the $560 USCIS filing fee and the $24 H.R. 1 I-94 fee. Certain military-related initial I-94 requests may total $24 because the USCIS base fee is $0. If the filing seeks replacement because of a USCIS error, the total is $0.

The agency also said the $24 I-94 fee is not waivable or reducible. That means the separate H.R. 1 charge can still apply even in a situation where the ordinary USCIS filing fee is waived or set at $0. The main exception in the fee table covers a correction of a DHS error, where both the USCIS fee and the H.R. 1 I-94 fee are listed as $0.

Identifying the Error Source

People facing an I-94 problem often need to identify the source of the error before choosing that route. A record that cannot be found online may reflect name order, spelling, passport number entry, the use of an old passport, hyphens, spaces or other data-matching issues rather than a missing record that requires Form I-102. A mistake made at the port of entry, such as a wrong visa classification or wrong admission date, may be handled through U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including a deferred inspection site, instead of USCIS.

Errors tied to USCIS can follow another path as well. If USCIS made the mistake, the matter may be treated differently from a normal replacement request. The same broad category, an incorrect I-94, can therefore lead to different outcomes depending on who created the error, what part of the record is wrong, and whether the person needs a correction or a replacement.

Common I-94 Problems and Their Impact

Common problems after U.S. entry include a wrong visa classification, an incorrect “admit until” date, a missing I-94 record, a name spelling error, a wrong passport number, a wrong date of birth, an incorrect country of citizenship, missing travel history, and a mismatch between a passport stamp and the online I-94 record. Each of those errors can carry consequences well beyond the immigration file itself.

Students often feel those consequences quickly. An F-1 student with the wrong classification or date on the I-94 can run into trouble with SEVIS compliance, school records, travel, practical training or a later filing. J-1 exchange visitors face similar risks because their category and period of stay can affect program compliance and later immigration steps.

Workers also can encounter problems that appear administrative but have immediate effect. H-1B and L-1 workers may hold approval notices, yet the I-94 date and class of admission still need review because those records can affect work authorization. O-1 professionals and dependents can run into related problems with eligibility for benefits, school admission, driver’s license renewal or employment authorization where applicable.

Financial and Practical Considerations

The financial effect can widen inside one household. A student, tourist, worker or dependent may not discover an I-94 issue until a Social Security number application, a driver’s license renewal, a job start, a school transfer or an extension filing brings the record under scrutiny. If more than one dependent has a problem, the cost of separate filings rises quickly under the new fee structure.

The practical response begins soon after arrival. Nonimmigrants who enter the United States can reduce later complications by checking the I-94 record promptly, saving a copy, and comparing it with the passport, visa stamp, approval notice and travel records. Waiting until a deadline approaches can narrow the available options and make a correction harder to secure.

That sequence matters more now because a direct request through Form I-102 carries the higher price in cases that once involved only the base USCIS charge. A lost or damaged record may still require the form. A port-of-entry mistake may point to CBP instead. A DHS or USCIS error may carry no fee at all. The difference between those paths now includes not just time and paperwork, but also whether the person pays $584, $24, or $0.