The I-130 filing fee is $625 if you file online and $675 if you file by mail, under the USCIS fee schedule that took effect April 1, 2024. The fee is non-refundable once USCIS accepts your petition, and for paper filings you can no longer pay by check.
What You Pay: $625 Online, $675 by Mail
USCIS charges two rates for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Filing through your USCIS online account costs $625. Mailing a paper petition costs $675. The $50 gap is intentional; the agency wants to push filers toward digital submissions to reduce its processing backlog.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule Both amounts come from Form G-1055, the official fee schedule USCIS updates through federal rulemaking.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 3 – Fees
There is no separate biometrics charge on an I-130. Under the 2024 fee rule, USCIS eliminated the $85 biometric services fee for most filings and folded that cost into the base fee.
You file a separate I-130, with its own fee, for each family member you are sponsoring. Multiple relatives cannot be combined on one petition.
The Fee Is Non-Refundable
Once USCIS accepts your petition, the money is gone regardless of the outcome. You will not get it back if the petition is denied, and you will not get it back if you withdraw the petition yourself.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees If USCIS later denies the case and you decide to appeal or file a motion, those steps carry their own fees; the original I-130 fee does not carry over.
How to Pay
This is where petitioners run into trouble, because the accepted methods changed. USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper I-130 filings unless a specific exemption applies.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees Mail in a check without an approved exemption and the whole petition comes back rejected.
Filing Online
If you file through your USCIS account, you pay inside the portal using the secure electronic payment system, either by card or ACH transaction. No separate payment form is needed.
Filing by Mail
Paper filers have two payment options, and each has its own authorization form that goes on top of the petition package:
- Credit, debit, or prepaid card. Complete Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, and place it on top of your petition before mailing.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions
- Direct bank withdrawal (ACH). Complete Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions, to authorize USCIS to pull funds from a U.S. bank account. The account must hold enough to cover the full fee, and USCIS cannot process payments from foreign banks.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions
If Your Card Is Declined
USCIS will not retry a declined card on a paper filing. The agency may reject your entire petition, and you would need to refile from scratch.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Pay With a Credit Card by Mail Before you mail anything, confirm the card is active, the expiration date is well ahead of the filing date, and the available limit covers the full fee.
Who Can Skip or Reduce the Fee
Two paths exist for paying less or nothing.
Current and former military service members are exempt from fees on certain USCIS forms. The specific forms covered are listed in the official fee schedule rather than in a single blanket rule, so check Form G-1055 for what applies to your situation.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Discretionary Options for Military Members, Enlistees and Their Families
Filers who cannot afford the fee can request a waiver using Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver. USCIS evaluates these requests based on demonstrated financial need. Not every form qualifies for a waiver, so confirm on the current fee schedule that the I-130 is eligible before you rely on this route.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule
Common Ways the Payment Goes Wrong
A rejected petition is not a denial; it means USCIS never accepted the filing, and you have to send it in again. On the fee side, the recurring reasons are:
- Sending a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order without qualifying for an exemption.
- Paying the online rate ($625) on a paper filing that requires $675.
- Submitting a G-1450 with an expired card, insufficient credit, or a mismatched billing name.
- Using a G-1650 tied to a non-U.S. bank account.
- Forgetting to include the payment authorization form at all.
Any one of these can send the whole package back. Because the fee is only charged once USCIS accepts the filing, a rejection does not cost you the fee, but it does cost you the time it takes to repackage and resend everything, and it delays the priority date the petition would otherwise have secured.
Fee at a Glance
- Online filing: $625
- Paper filing by mail: $675
- Biometrics: included in the base fee
- Accepted payment (online): card or ACH inside the USCIS portal
- Accepted payment (mail): Form G-1450 (card) or Form G-1650 (ACH); no checks
- Refundable: no, once the petition is accepted
- Possible reductions: military exemptions on qualifying forms; Form I-912 fee waiver if eligible