Rule Text
(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.
Amendment history: 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).
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
If you can't afford court fees and costs while appealing a case, you may be able to get them waived. If the trial court didn't already waive your fees before you filed your appeal, you can ask for a waiver by filing an application or your lawyer's request at the same time you file your notice of appeal, or any time while the appeal is going on. This request goes to the trial court. If you are filing a petition or some other document directly with the appellate court instead, you ask that court for the waiver instead, either when you file the petition or later on.
Any waiver request filed with an appellate court must include a special certification confirming you've handled confidential information properly, as required under a separate court rule.
Sometimes the appellate court will send your waiver request back down to a trial court to hold a hearing and decide whether to grant it. If that happens, the trial court has 30 days to make a decision, unless the appellate court says otherwise.
If your case involves unemployment compensation, you don't need to file anything to get fees waived. The rules automatically waive those fees and costs for you.
Committee Notes
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.
Historical Commentary
The following commentary is historical in nature and represents statements of the Committee at the time of rulemaking:
Explanatory Comment—1979
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.
