DHS raises immigration parole and border apprehension fees for fiscal 2027

New, inflation-adjusted amounts for several immigration fees created by last year’s budget reconciliation law took effect Oct. 16, 2026. The largest dollar increases fall on people paroled into the United States and on certain migrants arrested by immigration authorities.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the fiscal year 2027 amounts in two Federal Register notices published Oct. 1. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin signed both. The fees come from Public Law 119-21, which the notices identify as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and say the president signed on July 4, 2025.

Enforcement fees reach $5,300

One notice, issued through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, covers two enforcement fees. It sets both at $5,300, up from $5,130 in fiscal 2026. Both fees started at $5,000 in fiscal 2025.

The first fee applies to people who were ordered removed in absentia for failing to appear at their removal proceedings and are later arrested by ICE. The law allows no waivers. The only exception the notice describes is for a removal order that is later rescinded.

The second fee applies to people who are inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act and are apprehended by DHS between ports of entry, meaning outside official crossing points. The notice says DHS, including ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, collects that fee.

According to the GPO edition of the ICE notice, DHS has been notifying affected people individually since September 2025 and giving them payment instructions. The notice does not say how many people have been charged or how much has been collected.

Parole and traveler fees

The second notice, issued through CBP, raises the fee for being paroled into the country from $1,020 to $1,050. CBP, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ICE all assess the fee. The notice says it “will be collected from any alien who is granted parole on or after October 16, 2026,” unless one of 10 statutory exceptions applies. The fee is owed when parole is actually granted, not when someone applies.

The same notice adjusts smaller fees paid by many lawful travelers:

• The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) fee for Visa Waiver Program visitors rises from $40.27 to $40.62. The fee for a denied ESTA application rises from $10.27 to $10.62.
• The Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) fee rises from $30.75 to $31.75.
• The HR-1 portion of the Form I-94 land border fee stays at $24. Combined with a separate $6 fee, the total remains $30.

How the adjustment was calculated

The law ties the yearly increases to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The notices cite a CPI-U of 323.048 in July 2025 and 333.918 in July 2026, an increase of about 3.4 percent.

The statute also sets rounding rules, so some increases come out smaller than the full inflation rate. For example, the parole calculation produced a $34.32 increase, which was rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $10. The I-94 adjustment came to 81 cents, which rounded down to zero.

Context

The notices describe the adjustments as required by statute. HR-1 directs DHS to recalculate the fees each fiscal year based on the change in consumer prices. The enforcement fees have now been adjusted twice since they first took effect at $5,000 in fiscal 2025, when DHS announced them on Sept. 8, 2025.

The fiscal 2026 amounts were announced Nov. 20, 2025, and took effect Dec. 1, 2025, according to the ICE notice. This year’s figures took effect about six weeks earlier in the fiscal year, on Oct. 16.