Fee and backlog transparency

Section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(m)) is amended to read as follows: (m) Immigration service fees (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), all fees designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security in regulations as immigration adjudication fees shall be deposited as offsetting receipts into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account in the Treasury of the United States, whether such fees are collected directly by the Secretary or through clerks of courts. (2) Virgin Islands and Guam (A) Guam All fees described in paragraph (1) that are received by the Secretary of Homeland Security from applicants residing in Guam shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue and Taxation of Guam. (B) Virgin islands All fees described in paragraph (1) that are received by the Secretary of Homeland Security from applicants residing in the United States Virgin Islands shall be remitted to the Treasury Division of the United States Virgin Islands. (3) Annual report on immigration fees Not less frequently than annually, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report on the collection and use of immigration fees that— (A) identifies— (i) total fee revenue collected, disaggregated by the type of immigration benefit for which fees were collected; (ii) the expenditures of such revenue, disaggregated by major function, including adjudications, customer service, fraud detection or vetting, and information technology modernization; and (iii) any transfer of funds from the Immigration Examinations Fee Account and any funds appropriated to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to other divisions within the Department of Homeland Security or to other Federal departments or agencies; and (B) describes the use of carryover balances and reserves related to the Immigration Examinations Fee Account. (4) Accountability relating to fee increases The Secretary of Homeland Security may not increase any immigration service fee above the level of such fee as of January 1, 2026, before the date that is 60 days after the date on which the Secretary submits to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that— (A) identifies the direct and indirect costs associated with providing adjudication and naturalization services; (B) distinguishes the costs referred to in subparagraph (A) from immigration enforcement and national security costs; (C) identifies the costs allocated for premium processing services to business customers, as prescribed under subsection (u); (D) describes the extent to which the fee prescribed in subsection (u) is set at a level that ensures full recovery of the costs referred to in subparagraph (C); (E) identifies the amount of funding that is being allocated for the infrastructure improvements in the adjudication and customer-service processes prescribed under subsection (u); (F) contains information regarding the amount by which such fee will be increased; (G) itemizes the total amount an applicant may be required to pay; and (H) identifies which parts of the fee are waivable. (5) Adjudications delay and backlog report Not less frequently than quarterly, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that identifies for the preceding quarter— (A) median processing times, disaggregated by form number; (B) total pending caseloads, disaggregated by form number; (C) the number of applications received, completed, approved, denied, and pending; (D) staffing levels for adjudications; (E) the percentage of applications processed in conformity with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing goals; (F) each instance in which the processing time of more than 10 percent of adjudications in any single category of immigration benefits surpasses the agency’s stated processing goal as of January 1, 2026; (G) each instance in which the processing time of more than 5 percent of applications for lawful permanent residence surpasses 150 days; and (H) each instance in which the processing time of more than 5 percent of applications for naturalization surpasses 150 days..