Form I-912 Fee Waiver: Who Qualifies, Income Limits, and Filing

The Form I-912 fee waiver lets you ask USCIS to skip the filing fee on certain immigration applications when you cannot afford to pay. You qualify one of three ways: you receive a means-tested government benefit, your household income sits at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or you face extreme financial hardship. The form itself costs nothing to file, but a documentation gap or an outdated form edition can get the whole packet rejected and stall your underlying case for weeks.¹

The Three Ways to Qualify

USCIS recognizes three independent paths. You only need to meet one, though you can check more than one box if several apply.¹

The first path is current receipt of a means-tested benefit by you, your spouse, your parent (if you’re under 21 or disabled), a sibling, or a child living with you. If you can prove current receipt, USCIS will generally approve the waiver without looking further.

The second path is income. Your total adjusted gross household income, based on everyone in the household who qualifies as a member, must fall at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your household size at the time you file.

The third path is extreme financial hardship. Even if your income is above the 150 percent threshold, unusual circumstances that make the fee unaffordable can qualify you: job loss, large medical bills, a natural disaster, or being the sole caregiver for a disabled family member are examples USCIS has accepted. This path is the most subjective, and officers weigh the situation case by case, so a strong written explanation and concrete documentation matter more here than under the other two.²

Which Benefits Count as Means-Tested

This trips up more applicants than you’d expect. A means-tested benefit is one where the granting agency checked your income before approving you. Not every government check qualifies, and USCIS publishes specific lists of what it will and will not accept.³

Benefits that qualify:

Medicaid, CHIP, or SCHIP
SNAP (formerly food stamps) and similar food assistance
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Section 8 housing assistance or the Housing Choice Voucher program
WIC and other childcare nutrition programs
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Cash benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs based on veteran status
Disaster relief under the Stafford Act

Benefits that do not qualify include Social Security retirement, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, unemployment insurance, and student financial aid. If unemployment is your main hardship, you would apply under the financial hardship path, not the means-tested benefit path.

2026 Income Thresholds

For the income path, USCIS compares your household’s adjusted gross income to 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for the year you file. The guidelines update annually. For 2026 filings in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.:⁴

1 person: $23,940
2 people: $32,460
3 people: $40,980
4 people: $49,500
5 people: $58,020
6 people: $66,540
7 people: $75,060
8 people: $83,580

Alaska and Hawaii have higher thresholds. For a single-person household, 150 percent of the guideline is $29,925 in Alaska and $27,540 in Hawaii.

How USCIS Counts Household Size

Household size directly affects whether your income falls below the threshold, so the number has to be right. USCIS doesn’t count everyone at your address. They count you, your spouse if living with you, and dependents who rely on your household’s income.¹

Dependents include unmarried children under 21 living with you, full-time students under 24 who live with you when not at school, children with disabilities you are legally responsible for regardless of age, parents living with you, and anyone else listed as a dependent on your federal tax return. A roommate or an adult child who doesn’t depend on your income and isn’t on your tax return generally doesn’t count.

On the income side, only count money that actually supports your household. If someone lives with you but doesn’t contribute financially, don’t include their income. If you’re separated from your spouse and living apart, don’t include your spouse’s income unless they send you support. These rules can work in your favor by keeping reported income lower, but the numbers must match your documentation.

Documentation by Path

Weak or missing paperwork is the fastest way to get rejected. What you submit depends on which path you’re using.

Means-Tested Benefit

Submit a letter, notice, or agency document proving current receipt. It must show your name (or the qualifying family member’s name), the agency granting the benefit, the type of benefit, and some indication that it’s currently active, such as an effective date range or a recent approval letter.⁵ Old award letters with no current dates are a common reason for rejection.

Income Below 150 Percent

Your most recent federal tax return is the primary document. If you didn’t file, or your return doesn’t reflect current income (say, you lost your job after filing), submit at least one month of consecutive pay stubs, a W-2, an SSA-1099, or an employer letter on business letterhead showing your wages.¹ You need income documentation for every household member listed on the form. If your tax filing status doesn’t match the marital status on your fee waiver request and you don’t explain the difference, USCIS will likely reject the request.

Financial Hardship

Write a clear, specific statement explaining what makes the fee unaffordable. Attach supporting documents: medical bills, a layoff notice, an eviction notice, or records of extraordinary expenses. Vague statements without backup rarely succeed. Concrete, recent evidence wins.

Foreign-Language Documents

Any document not in English must include a certified English translation. The translator provides a signed statement certifying fluency in both languages and the accuracy of the translation, along with their name, signature, address, and date. Contrary to what many applicants assume, USCIS does not require translations to be notarized.

Filling Out and Submitting Form I-912

Download the current edition of Form I-912 from the USCIS website. As of mid-2025, the edition is dated 07/22/25.⁶ Using an outdated version gets your entire packet rejected before anyone reads it.

In Part 3, list every application or petition you want covered. One I-912 can cover multiple forms. Then complete only the section matching your eligibility path: Part 4 for means-tested benefits, Part 5 for income below 150 percent, Part 6 for financial hardship. You may complete more than one section if you qualify under more than one criterion.¹

Every I-912 needs a handwritten signature. A typed or stamped name doesn’t count. If the requestor is under 14, a parent or legal guardian signs; the same applies for someone mentally incapacitated. For a family applying together, one I-912 covers everyone and only the primary requestor signs.

Attach the completed I-912 and all supporting documents to the underlying immigration application, then mail the packet to the USCIS address listed in that application’s instructions. There is no filing fee for the I-912 itself.⁵

Online Filing

USCIS allows online submission of Form I-912 alongside certain applications, including Form I-131 (travel documents), Form I-751 (removing conditions on residence), and some categories of Form I-765 (employment authorization).⁷ If you’re requesting a waiver for Form N-400 (naturalization), you cannot file online; you must submit a paper N-400 with the waiver request.

Which Forms Accept a Fee Waiver

Not every USCIS form is eligible. Some can be waived unconditionally; others require you to fall into a specific immigration category.⁸

Eligible without conditions:

Form I-90 (replacing a green card)
Form I-751 (removing conditions on residence)
Form N-400 (naturalization)
Form N-565 (replacing a naturalization certificate)
Form N-600 (certificate of citizenship)
Form I-817 (family unity benefits)
Form I-821 (Temporary Protected Status, biometric fee only for first-time applicants)
Form N-336 (hearing on a naturalization denial)

Eligible with conditions: Form I-485 (adjustment of status) when the applicant is in a category exempt from public charge, such as asylees or Cuban Adjustment Act applicants; Form I-765 (employment authorization) in most categories except DACA; and Form I-131 (travel document) when filed for humanitarian parole.⁵

Employment-based petitions, investor applications, and most employer-sponsored forms are not eligible. If you’re unsure, the I-912 page on the USCIS site keeps the current list.

Common Reasons Fee Waivers Get Denied

USCIS publishes the specific reasons it rejects fee waivers. Knowing them in advance saves you a setback.²

No I-912 or written request was included, so the whole packet went back for lack of payment.
The waiver was attached to a form that doesn’t accept fee waivers.
Documented income exceeded 150 percent of the guidelines and no means-tested benefit or hardship was shown.
Household members were listed with no income documentation for them (or no evidence that they have no income).
Tax filing status contradicted the marital status on the I-912 with no explanation.
The benefit proof was outdated. An award letter from two years ago doesn’t show current receipt.
The form edition was expired.

What Happens If Your Waiver Is Denied

There is no appeal from a fee waiver denial. That surprises most applicants, so it’s worth stating plainly. If USCIS denies your I-912, you can either submit a new waiver request with better documentation or refile the underlying application with the required fee.²

Filing a fee waiver does not pause any deadlines. If your underlying application has a filing deadline, such as an appeal or a motion, the clock keeps running while USCIS reviews the waiver. If the waiver is rejected and the deadline passes before you can refile with payment, you may lose your window. USCIS uses the receipt date of the refiled application, not the date of the rejected packet.

When USCIS denies a waiver, it sends a written notice with the reason and instructions on how to resubmit. Read the notice carefully. For some benefits, you may have only a limited window to refile with the proper fee.¹

Will a Fee Waiver Hurt My Green Card Case?

Fear of the public charge rule keeps a lot of eligible applicants from filing. The concern isn’t baseless, but it’s narrower than most people think.

Under current USCIS policy, if you previously received a fee waiver and later apply for adjustment of status, the officer may consider that waiver as one factor in the totality of circumstances when evaluating public charge inadmissibility. The officer looks at how recent the waiver was, the amount waived, and the basis for eligibility.⁹

USCIS also recognizes that the common waiver criteria (means-tested benefit or income below 150 percent) would already be visible from the Form I-485 responses. A waiver doesn’t reveal anything the adjustment application wouldn’t already show. USCIS does not collect information about past fee waivers on Form I-485, though officers may note it if it appears elsewhere in the record.

Many immigration categories are exempt from public charge altogether: asylees, refugees, TPS holders, VAWA self-petitioners, and several other humanitarian classifications. If you fall into one of those categories, the public charge question doesn’t apply, and requesting a fee waiver carries no risk on that front.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-912, Instructions for Request for Fee Waiver
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Fee Waivers and Fee Exemptions
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additional Information on Filing a Fee Waiver
4
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Forms Available to File Online
8
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.3 – Fee Waivers and Exemptions
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 9 – Adjudicating Public Charge Inadmissibility