The I-130 processing fee is $625 if you file online and $675 if you mail a paper petition. USCIS set these amounts in a rule that took effect April 1, 2024, and the fee is non-refundable whether your petition is approved, denied, or withdrawn. As of October 28, 2025, USCIS no longer accepts paper checks or money orders for mailed filings except in narrow circumstances, so how you pay has changed even if the amount has not.
Current Fee Amounts
USCIS charges two different rates depending on how you file:
- Online filing: $625
- Paper filing by mail: $675
The $50 gap reflects the lower processing cost of a fully digital submission. There is no separate biometrics fee for the I-130; that cost was folded into the filing fee when the April 2024 rule took effect.1Federal Register. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements
Send the wrong amount, even by a dollar, and USCIS will reject your entire filing package and send it back.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 6 – Submitting Requests Confirm the current fee on the USCIS fee schedule before you file.
How to Pay
USCIS made a major change on October 28, 2025: paper checks and money orders are no longer accepted for forms filed by mail, with very limited exceptions.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds If you’re mailing a paper I-130, you now have two payment options.
Credit or Debit Card (Form G-1450)
Complete Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, and place it on top of your petition package before mailing. USCIS accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover cards issued by U.S. banks. The form requires your card number, expiration date, and signature.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions If the card is declined, USCIS rejects the entire petition and will not try to run the card a second time.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Authorization for Credit Card Transactions Make sure the card has enough available credit and that the billing address matches exactly.
Bank Account Transfer (Form G-1650)
Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions, lets USCIS pull the fee directly from a U.S. checking or savings account. Anyone who owns a U.S. bank account can pay on your behalf; the account holder fills out and signs the form, and you include it with your filing.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions There is no extra charge for paying this way. One thing to watch: if your bank has a debit block on the account, you’ll need to contact the bank and whitelist USCIS before filing, or the payment will fail.
Online Filing Payment
If you file your I-130 through the USCIS online portal, you pay at the end of the digital application through Pay.gov. The system handles payment as part of the filing flow, and your receipt notice appears in your online account once the transaction completes.
Paper Check Exception
A narrow exemption still exists for paying with a personal check, business check, or money order. If you qualify, file Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment, alongside your petition. Checks under this exemption must be drawn on a U.S. bank, payable in U.S. funds, made out to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security” (no abbreviations), and dated within the previous 365 days.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees For most filers, this exception won’t apply.
Whichever payment form you use, place it on top of your petition documents before sealing the package so intake staff process your payment first.
One Fee for Each Relative
File a separate Form I-130 for each relative you’re sponsoring, and pay a separate fee for each one.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative A petitioner sponsoring a spouse and two siblings, for example, would pay $625 three times ($1,875 total) filing online. The only exception involves derivative beneficiaries, mainly the minor children of certain family preference beneficiaries, who may be included on the principal beneficiary’s petition without a separate filing. Check the form instructions to see whether your relatives qualify as derivatives before paying for separate petitions.
What Happens If Payment Fails
A declined credit card, a bounced ACH transfer, or an incorrect fee amount all produce the same result: USCIS rejects the entire petition and returns the package.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 6 – Submitting Requests A rejection is not the same as a denial. USCIS never formally accepted the petition, so you don’t lose any legal standing. You do lose the weeks it took the package to ship, get processed, and come back. With I-130 processing already stretching well past a year, those weeks add up.
Once USCIS processes your payment and accepts the petition, it generates a receipt notice, Form I-797C, confirming that the filing is in the review queue.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action Keep that notice. You’ll need the receipt number to check case status.
The Fee Is Non-Refundable
Once USCIS accepts your I-130, the filing fee is gone whether the petition is approved, denied, or withdrawn. USCIS policy states that fees are “generally non-refundable regardless of the ultimate decision on the benefit request.”10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 3 – Fees The only exceptions are narrow situations where USCIS itself made an error, such as collecting the wrong fee amount. The G-1650 instructions put it plainly: “all related financial transactions are final and not refundable.”6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions
Fee Waivers Do Not Apply to the I-130
Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, exists for certain USCIS filings, but Form I-130 is not one of them. The list of waiver-eligible forms includes applications like Form I-485 (adjustment of status) and Form I-90 (green card replacement), and the I-130 petition is specifically excluded.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver Whatever your income or financial circumstances, you must pay the full $625 or $675 to file. Some of the later fees in the green card process, particularly the I-485, may be waiver-eligible when the time comes.