How to File Form I-901 and Pay the SEVIS Fee

To pay the SEVIS fee, go to fmjfee.com, enter the SEVIS ID from your Form I-20 or DS-2019, pay the I-901 fee with a credit or debit card, and print the confirmation before your visa interview. F-1, F-3, M-1, and M-3 students pay $350. Most J-1 exchange visitors pay $220, and J-1s in the au pair, camp counselor, or summer work travel categories pay $35.¹ The online transaction takes about ten minutes.²

What to Have Ready Before You Start

You will need your Form I-20 (F and M students) or Form DS-2019 (J-1 exchange visitors), issued by your school or program sponsor. Pull the following off that form and off your passport:

Your SEVIS ID, which begins with “N” followed by digits. On the payment form, enter the digits after the N.³
Your school code (F and M) or program number (J-1), also on the I-20 or DS-2019.
Your name, date of birth, and country of citizenship exactly as they appear in your passport.

Match everything character for character. A single wrong digit in the SEVIS ID attaches your payment to the wrong record, or to no record at all.⁴

Paying Online at fmjfee.com

The fastest route is a credit or debit card payment at fmjfee.com, the official portal operated by the Department of Homeland Security.⁵ Work through the screens in one sitting: select your visa category, enter your SEVIS ID and personal information, confirm your school or program details, and submit the payment. When the card charge clears, print the confirmation immediately.⁴

Do not close the browser or step away mid-session. If you don’t reach a confirmation number, nothing is saved and no payment is recorded. You start over.⁴

Paying by Mail or Western Union

Without a credit or debit card, you have two other options. You can mail a check or money order with a paper Form I-901, printed from the SEVP website. The check or money order must be drawn on a U.S. financial institution and payable in U.S. dollars to the “Department of Homeland Security.” International money orders are also accepted.⁵ Allow at least two weeks for mail delivery, plus three business days for processing after that. A bounced check triggers an added $35 charge.⁴

Western Union Quick Pay is the other alternative, available in over 130 countries.⁶

One country-specific rule: prospective F or M students with citizenship or birth in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, or Gambia cannot use a credit or debit card. They must pay by money order, Western Union, or certified check drawn on a U.S. bank.⁵

How Early to Pay Before Your Visa Interview

The fee does not have to be paid before you schedule an interview, only before you attend one. ICE recommends leaving at least three business days between payment and the interview so the payment can post and be verified in the State Department system.⁴ Paying online a week or more ahead of the appointment gives a safer cushion.

If you’re paying by mail, plan far earlier. Postal transit plus processing can easily push the timeline past three weeks, and any error that forces the form to be returned adds more.

Printing and Keeping the Confirmation

SEVP stopped mailing paper receipts in 2013. The printable confirmation from fmjfee.com is your proof of payment, and printing it is on you.²

Bring a printed copy to your visa interview. The consular officer uses it to confirm you paid, and arriving without it risks a delay or denial.⁵ Officers at a U.S. port of entry may also ask to see it. If you lose the printout, return to fmjfee.com, enter your SEVIS ID, last name, and date of birth, and reprint the confirmation any time.²

Who Does Not Have to Pay

Two groups are exempt. Dependents applying for F-2, M-2, or J-2 status do not pay a separate fee; the principal student or exchange visitor’s payment covers the family. J-1 exchange visitors in federal government-sponsored programs, identified by a program designation prefix of G-1, G-2, G-3, or G-7, also owe nothing.⁷

Everyone else applying for an F-1, F-3, M-1, M-3, or J-1 visa at a U.S. consulate, or seeking a change of status to one of those classifications from inside the United States, has to pay before the visa is issued or the status change approved.⁷

When You Have to Pay Again

A previously paid fee doesn’t always cover a new I-20 or DS-2019. You owe a new fee if you have been outside the United States for more than five months and were not on authorized study abroad during that time. You also owe a new fee if you fell out of status or finished a prior program and need a fresh initial I-20 from a school. In both cases the government treats you as a new student, which means a new SEVIS ID and a new payment.⁴

The SEVIS ID on your payment confirmation must match the SEVIS ID on the I-20 or DS-2019 you present at the interview. If you’ve been issued a new form with a different ID and aren’t sure whether you need to pay again, email FMJfee.sevis@ice.dhs.gov before booking the interview.⁴

Mistakes That Delay Payment

The problems that cause the most trouble are the same handful, and all of them are avoidable:

A wrong SEVIS ID. A single incorrect digit attaches the payment to someone else’s record or no record. Copy the number directly from your I-20 or DS-2019.
Name or date-of-birth mismatch. Enter your information exactly as it appears in your passport. Nicknames and reformatted dates prevent the system from matching your record.
Wrong payment amount by mail. The system does not accept overpayments or underpayments. Send the exact fee for your visa category.
A check drawn on a non-U.S. bank. Mailed payments must be from a U.S. financial institution; a foreign personal check gets returned.
Abandoning the online session before you get a confirmation number. Nothing is saved and no payment is recorded.⁴

Paying online with a card avoids most of these. The site validates the SEVIS ID against the database as you type, auto-fills the correct fee, and produces an instant printable confirmation. If a card is available to you, that’s the path to take.

1
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. New, Increased Fees for International Students, Exchange Visitors, SEVP-Certified Schools
2
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I-901 SEVIS Fee
3
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I-901, Fee Remittance for Certain F, J and M Nonimmigrants
4
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. I-901 SEVIS Fee Frequently Asked Questions
5
Study in the States. Paying the I-901 SEVIS Fee
6
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. SEVIS I-901 Fee Payment by Western Union Quick Pay Instructions
7
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.13 – SEVIS Fee for Certain F, J, and M Nonimmigrants