The I-751 filing fee is $750 if you mail a paper petition or $700 if you file online through a USCIS account. That single amount covers everything USCIS charges to process the petition, including biometrics, so there is no separate fingerprinting bill to plan for. Conditional residents petitioning as survivors of battery or extreme cruelty pay nothing.
Fee Breakdown
USCIS restructured its fee schedule on April 1, 2024, and one of the biggest changes for I-751 filers was folding the old $85 biometric services charge into the base fee.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 2024 Final Fee Rule What you pay now is a single flat amount, and the amount depends on how you file.
- Paper filing by mail: $750
- Online filing through a USCIS account: $700
- Waiver of joint filing based on battery or extreme cruelty: $0
The $0 fee applies specifically to conditional residents, and their spouses or children, who file a waiver of the joint filing requirement on abuse grounds.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule Everyone else pays the standard amount. USCIS does not offer payment plans, and fees are generally nonrefundable regardless of how your case turns out.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 3 – Fees
Filing online saves $50 outright and also removes the risk of a payment-processing rejection, since Pay.gov confirms the charge before the petition is submitted.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
How to Pay
Online filers pay through Pay.gov as part of the submission flow. Nothing else to arrange.
Paper filers have to pay closer attention, because USCIS changed what it accepts in late 2025. Starting October 28, 2025, USCIS stopped taking personal checks, business checks, money orders, and cashier’s checks for paper filings unless the filer qualifies for a narrow exemption under Form G-1651.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Transition to Electronic Payments – Policy Alert Older guides still tell people to send a check. Don’t. That will get your whole petition returned.
Paper filers now have two options:
- Credit, debit, or prepaid card. Fill out Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, and place it on top of the petition package. The card must be issued by a U.S. bank. If the card is declined, USCIS sends the entire petition back to you.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions
- ACH bank transfer. Fill out Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions, and place it on top of the package. The fee pulls directly from a U.S. checking or savings account. A third party can pay on your behalf as long as they sign the form.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions
One thing to check before you rely on ACH: some banks apply a debit block that stops unauthorized withdrawals. If yours does, call the bank and whitelist the USCIS agency location code for the lockbox where your petition is going. The codes are listed in the G-1650 instructions. Skip this step and the payment will fail, which sends your whole petition back without a filing date.
Fee Waiver Options
If the fee is out of reach, you can ask USCIS to process the I-751 at no cost by submitting Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, with the petition.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver USCIS grants waivers on one of three grounds.
- You, your spouse, or a qualifying family member currently receives a means-tested government benefit such as SNAP or Medicaid. Include a letter or notice from the benefit agency showing the benefit is active.
- Your household income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. For 2026, that is $23,475 for a household of one and $48,225 for a household of four. Federal tax transcripts or pay stubs work as evidence.9LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Federal Poverty Guidelines for FFY 2026
- You are facing a financial hardship such as a serious medical bill or job loss that makes paying the fee a genuine burden. Include documentation of the hardship.
A denied fee waiver does not block you from filing. You can either resubmit with better documentation or pay the fee. But the 90-day filing window keeps running while USCIS reviews a waiver request, so submit the petition well inside that window rather than at the edge of it.
What a Rejected Payment Costs You
A returned petition is not just an inconvenience with the I-751. Joint filers have to submit the petition during the 90 days before the conditional green card expires.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence If a bad check, a declined card, or a blocked ACH transfer sends your package back and the card expires in the meantime, permanent resident status terminates automatically and you become removable.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
That’s the practical reason online filing has become the default recommendation where it is available: the payment either goes through or it doesn’t, and you find out in the same session. If you file on paper, confirm the card is active, the ACH block is cleared, and the G-1450 or G-1650 is on top of the package before you seal the envelope.