AOS Fee: I-485 Costs, Section 245(i), and Fee Waivers

The adjustment of status fee is $1,440 for most applicants age 14 and older filing Form I-485 inside the United States, or $950 for a child under 14 filing together with a parent. That is the base USCIS charge. Your real out-of-pocket cost will be higher once you add a work permit, a travel document, a mandatory medical exam, and any translations or legal help. USCIS rewrote its fee rules in April 2024, so any guide that mentions a separate $85 biometrics fee or a free work permit alongside the I-485 is out of date.

I-485 Filing Fee Amounts

USCIS sets the I-485 fee under 8 CFR 106.2 in two tiers:¹

Age 14 or older: $1,440
Under age 14, filing concurrently with a parent’s I-485: $950

A child under 14 who files on their own, without a parent’s application submitted at the same time, pays the full $1,440. The reduced rate exists only for concurrent filings.¹ The amount is the same whether your green card is family-based or employment-based.

The old $85 biometrics fee for fingerprinting is gone as a separate line item. Biometric services are now covered inside the filing fee itself.² There is also no longer a lower fee for applicants 79 and older; the current regulation makes no age distinction above 14.

Two groups pay nothing: applicants in removal proceedings whose fee is waived by an immigration judge, and certain special immigrants who served honorably in the U.S. armed forces.¹

Work Permit and Travel Document Add-Ons

Most adjustment applicants file a work permit (Form I-765) and advance parole (Form I-131) at the same time as the I-485. Under the pre-April 2024 rule, both were free when filed together with the green card application. That is no longer true. Each form now carries its own fee even when submitted in the same package, which adds several hundred dollars for many applicants.

The I-765 and I-131 amounts vary by category, so check the USCIS fee schedule on the Form G-1055 page before you mail anything. Using the wrong number on any form in the package will get the whole thing rejected.³

The Extra $1,000 Under Section 245(i)

If you entered without inspection or are otherwise barred from standard adjustment, you may still qualify under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, provided a qualifying petition or labor certification was filed on or before April 30, 2001. In that case you pay a $1,000 penalty on top of the regular I-485 fee, submitted with Supplement A to Form I-485.⁴ Children under 17 do not owe the $1,000, and neither do certain spouses and children of people who gained status through the 1986 legalization programs.⁵

Costs USCIS Doesn’t Collect

Every adjustment applicant needs an immigration medical exam by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. USCIS does not set what those doctors charge, and prices vary widely by city and provider.⁶ Plan on several hundred dollars, more if you need vaccinations or follow-up tests. It’s worth calling more than one civil surgeon, because quotes within the same city can differ significantly.

Supporting documents in a language other than English need certified translations. Birth and marriage certificates are the usual ones. Certified translation services typically charge $25 to $40 per page.

An attorney is optional. For a standard I-485, fees generally run $2,000 to $3,000, and complicated cases cost more.

Fee Waivers

Most family-based and employment-based applicants cannot get the I-485 fee waived. USCIS limits I-485 fee waivers to people who are exempt from the public charge ground of inadmissibility, which rules out the standard family and employment categories.⁷

Humanitarian applicants have broader access. Refugees, asylees, T visa holders, U visa holders, VAWA self-petitioners, and special immigrant juveniles can all request a waiver for the I-485 and related filings.⁷

To ask for one, submit Form I-912 with your application; you cannot send it later.⁸ USCIS will approve the waiver if you show a current means-tested benefit like SNAP or Medicaid, household income at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or documented financial hardship.⁹

One catch: USCIS cannot waive fees imposed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.-1), which took effect in August 2025. If your category carries an H.R.-1 fee, you owe that amount even if your I-912 is approved for the regular filing fee.⁷

How to Pay

USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders for paper-filed forms unless you qualify for a specific exemption.¹⁰ Mailing a check without that exemption gets your entire application rejected. This is where a lot of applicants trip, because the older guidance is still all over the internet.

For a paper filing, you have two options:

Credit, debit, or prepaid card. Complete Form G-1450 and place it on top of the package.¹¹
ACH bank transfer. Complete Form G-1650 to authorize a debit from a U.S. checking or savings account. Someone else with a U.S. account can pay on your behalf. Foreign accounts are not accepted.¹²

If your bank account has a debit block, you’ll need to contact the bank ahead of time and whitelist the USCIS agency location code for the lockbox you’re filing at. Those codes are in the G-1650 instructions.¹²

If you genuinely have no access to banking or electronic payment, you can request an exemption by filing Form G-1651 with your paper payment. There are four narrow qualifying grounds, including lack of access to banking and undue hardship from electronic payment.¹⁰ Online filers pay through Pay.gov.

What Happens If Your Payment Is Wrong

USCIS rejects filings with the wrong fee, and that includes overpayments. They will not refund the difference and keep your application. The whole package comes back.²

A rejection resets your place in line. Your official receipt date becomes the date USCIS gets your corrected filing, not the date of the original submission.² For employment-based applicants in oversubscribed categories, that can be a serious problem if visa bulletin dates retrogress while you’re refiling. The same risk applies if a credit card is declined at processing; USCIS will not retry it.

Before mailing, run your specific filing through the USCIS fee calculator on the G-1055 page to confirm the exact total for your age and category. Make sure the card has enough available credit or the bank account has enough to cover the debit. Fees change from time to time, and the most recent inflation adjustment for certain immigration fees took effect January 1, 2026,¹³ so verify the number close to when you actually file rather than trusting one you looked up months earlier.

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.2 – Fees
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through INA 245(i) Adjustment
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status of Nonimmigrant to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 4 – Fee Waivers and Fee Exemptions
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request for Fee Waiver
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Form I-912 – Request for Fee Waiver
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions
13
Federal Register. Inflation Adjustment to HR-1 Immigration Fees