Pa. R.A.P. 552 (2026)
New Waiver of Fees and Costs for Purposes of Appeal.
Rule 552. New Waiver of Fees and Costs for Purposes of Appeal.
(a) General Rule.
(1) Notice of Appeal. An appellant who was not previously granted a waiver of fees and costs by the trial court may seek a waiver of fees and costs by filing an application or praecipe of counsel pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 1990 in the trial court at the same time as the filing of the notice of appeal or any time thereafter during the pendency of the appeal. Any application to waive fees and costs filed with the appellate court shall contain the certificate of compliance required by Pa.R.A.P. 127 (confidential information and confidential documents; certification).
(2) Petition or Other Initiating Document. A petitioner who was not previously granted a waiver of fees and costs may seek a waiver of fees and costs by filing an application or praecipe of counsel pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 1990 in the appellate court at the same time as the filing of the petition or other initiating document or any time thereafter. Any application to waive fees and costs filed with the appellate court shall contain the certificate of compliance required by Pa.R.A.P. 127 (confidential information and confidential documents; certification).
(b) Remand. An appellate court may remand an application and any supplemental information to a court of record for an ex parte hearing and decision. The decision by the court of record shall be rendered within 30 days of the date of the remand order unless otherwise directed by the appellate court.
(c) Unemployment Compensation Cases. Any fees and costs required under Chapter 27 shall be deemed waived for a petitioner in an unemployment compensation matter without the need for an application or praecipe.
If an application or praecipe is not filed when an action is commenced, the action will be docketed but all applicable fees and costs will be required to be paid before proceeding. See generally Pa.R.A.P. 902 (manner of taking appeal).
In subdivision (a)(2), ‘‘other initiating document’’ includes, but is not limited to, a petition for allowance of appeal, a petition for permission to appeal, petition for review, a petition for specialized review, an application for leave to file original process, and an application for extraordinary relief. See Chapter 11 (petition for allowance of appeal), Chapter 13 (petition for permission to appeal), Chapter 15 (petition for review), Chapter 16 (petition for permission to appeal), Pa.R.A.P. 3307 (application for leave to file original process), and Pa.R.A.P. 3309 (application for extraordinary relief).
A record hearing is necessary when an application cannot be granted based upon the application and any supplemental information submitted to the appellate court. Subdivision (b) authorizes an appellate court to remand the application to a court of record, if necessary.
The judicial determination of an application is ex parte, see subdivision (b). As such, the party is not required to serve the application on any other party. The application and order are publicly accessible pursuant to the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.
The following commentary is historical in nature and represents statements of the Committee at the time of rulemaking:
In forma pauperis rules are revised to permit the appellate prothonotary to permit an appeal to be taken without payment of fee where the IFP documentation is completed promptly after demand therefor, to reflect the integration (by the amendments to Rules 905 and 907) of appellate docketing and the filing of the notice of appeal in the lower court, and to conform the procedures on nonpayment of required filing fees with the general requirements of Chapter 27.
The provisions of this Rule 552 amended through December 22, 1983, effective January 1, 1984, 14 Pa.B. 43; amended January 5, 2018, effective January 6, 2018, 48 Pa.B. 461; amended June 1, 2018, effective July 1, 2018, 48 Pa.B. 3517; amended April 21, 2026, effective November 1, 2026, 56 Pa.B. 2515. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (408489) to (408490).