Hello. Dealing with government fees and required paperwork can be incredibly stressful when you are navigating immigration processes. Please know that we are here to help explain what these announcements mean for you.

What Changed

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that they will start collecting a fee when they take your fingerprints at certain airports. Before this notice, this collection might not have been subject to a fee. The fee you will pay is a combination of two parts: the current Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fee for doing the fingerprint check, plus a separate administrative processing fee from CBP.

CBP collects these fingerprints if you apply using paper forms, or if you are applying for an eBadge (an electronic access badge) and CBP either hasn’t received your fingerprints from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or the fingerprints they get are unreadable or unusable.

Who Is Affected

This change affects applicants who:

  1. Are applying for unescorted access to secure areas within airports.
  2. Submit a paper application to CBP.
  3. Are eBadge applicants and CBP needs to collect your fingerprints because the TSA hasn’t provided them, or the provided prints are unusable.

What You Should Do

If you are applying for airport access or need to submit fingerprints to CBP following this notice, please be prepared to pay the required fee. When you are asked to submit fingerprints, it is important to know that this fee is comprised of the FBI user fee and the CBP administrative processing fee. We recommend keeping records of all payments and documentation related to these services.

Official Sources

Disclaimer: I am an immigration policy analyst providing plain-language information based on government notices. I am not an attorney, and this content does not constitute legal advice. Always consult with a qualified immigration attorney regarding your specific situation.