USCIS Filing Fees: Surcharges, Premium Processing, and Waivers

USCIS filing fees are set by federal regulation and vary by form, with most paper filings costing $50 more than the online version of the same form. The current schedule took effect April 1, 2024, and a first round of annual inflation adjustments took effect January 1, 2026, with updated premium processing fees following on March 1, 2026.¹ Sending the wrong amount, even by a few dollars, gets your entire package rejected and costs you your filing date, so confirm the exact fee for your form before you file.²

What Common Forms Cost

The prices below are the base paper-filing amounts. Filing online saves $50 on most forms.³

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative: $675 paper, $625 online.⁴
Form N-400, Application for Naturalization: $760 paper, $710 online. Applicants with qualifying military service pay nothing, and a reduced fee of $380 is available for lower-income applicants (details below).⁴
Form I-90, Green Card renewal or replacement: $465 paper, $415 online.⁴
Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status: $1,440 for most applicants. Children under 14 filing at the same time as a parent pay $950.⁵

The I-485 was “unbundled” in the 2024 rule change. The base fee used to cover work permits and travel documents automatically. Now, if you also want employment authorization (Form I-765) or advance parole (Form I-131), you pay for each separately, and the amount depends on your eligibility category. Check the G-1055 fee schedule on the USCIS website for the combination that applies to you.

Extra Charges Layered on Top

A $30 biometrics fee covers fingerprinting and background checks. For most forms it is folded into the base price, but it still applies as a separate charge for certain filings such as Form I-601A (Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver) and Form I-821 (Temporary Protected Status).⁵ When it applies, leaving it out gets the whole package rejected.

Employers filing worker petitions pay an Asylum Program Fee on top of the base fee for Forms I-129 and I-140. Large employers with more than 25 full-time equivalent employees pay $600 per petition; small employers with 25 or fewer pay $300. Nonprofits are exempt.⁶

Paying Extra for Faster Processing

Premium processing, requested through Form I-907, guarantees USCIS will take action on your case within a set number of business days. Action means an approval, a denial, a request for evidence, or a notice of intent to deny — not necessarily an approval.⁷

It is available only for four form types: Form I-129 (Nonimmigrant Worker), Form I-140 (Immigrant Worker), certain categories of Form I-765, and certain classifications of Form I-539.⁸ The guaranteed window depends on the form and category: 15 business days for most I-129 and I-140 filings; 30 business days for I-765 and for I-539 applicants changing to F, J, or M status; and 45 business days for I-140 multinational executive/manager and national interest waiver petitions.⁷

As of March 1, 2026, the fees are:⁹

$2,965 for most I-129 and I-140 classifications, including H-1B, L, O, P, Q, and E visa petitions and EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 immigrant categories.
$2,075 for I-539 change-of-status applications to dependents of E, H, L, O, P, or R visa holders.
$1,780 for H-2B and R visa petitions and for Form I-765 employment authorization.

The premium processing fee is not waivable, and it must be paid in a payment separate from the underlying filing fee.⁹

Waivers, Exemptions, and Reduced Fees

Some applicants pay nothing regardless of income. T-visa applicants (trafficking victims) and U-visa applicants (victims of qualifying crimes) are exempt from fees on a wide range of forms, from the initial application through adjustment of status and employment authorization.¹⁰

If you are not in an exempt category, you can request a fee waiver on Form I-912 by showing inability to pay under any of three tests:¹¹

You, your spouse, your parent (if you are under 21 or disabled), a sibling, or a child living with you currently receives a means-tested benefit such as Medicaid or SNAP.
Your household income is at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
You can document financial hardship such as major medical bills or job loss, even if your income is above 150 percent of the guidelines.

Hardship claims need supporting documents such as tax returns, pay stubs, or hospital bills. USCIS reviews each request individually.

There is also a middle option for naturalization. If your household income falls between 150 and 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, you can pay a reduced N-400 fee of $380 instead of $760. The reduced-fee version must be filed on paper.¹²

How to Pay

Filing Online

The USCIS online system routes you to Pay.gov, the Treasury Department’s secure payment portal, at the end of your filing. You can use a credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or a direct bank withdrawal, and you get an immediate confirmation number and electronic receipt.¹³

Filing by Mail

Paper filers can pay by check, money order, or card. Checks and money orders must be drawn on a U.S. financial institution, denominated in U.S. dollars, and made payable to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security.” Write the payee’s full name; abbreviations like “DHS” or “USDHS” are not accepted.¹³ Adding the form type and applicant name on the memo line keeps the payment tied to your filing if the two get separated.

To pay by card through the mail, fill out Form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions) and place it on top of your package.¹⁴ If the card is declined, USCIS will not retry it and may reject the whole filing.²

When Payments Fail

USCIS rejects any filing that arrives without the correct fee, and you lose your filing date when that happens.² For applicants tracking priority dates or filing before a status deadline, that lost date can matter as much as the fee itself.

If a bank withdrawal bounces for insufficient funds, USCIS resubmits it once. If it fails again, or if the bank rejects it on the first try for any reason other than insufficient funds, USCIS may reject or deny the filing. If your case had already been approved by the time the payment problem surfaced, the agency can revoke that approval.²

Filing fees are almost never refundable. USCIS keeps the money whether your case is approved, denied, or still pending years later. The narrow exception is a USCIS error, such as being told to file a waiver that turned out to be unnecessary; in that case you can contact the USCIS Contact Center or write to the office handling your case. Do not attempt a chargeback if you paid by card. USCIS treats card fees as not subject to chargebacks except at the agency’s own discretion, and filing one can complicate your immigration case without recovering the money.²

Annual Inflation Adjustments

Starting in fiscal year 2026, DHS began adjusting certain immigration fees annually for inflation. The first round took effect January 1, 2026, reflecting inflation from July 2024 through July 2025, and any filing postmarked on or after that date must use the updated amounts.¹

The common form fees above (I-130, N-400, I-90, I-485) were not touched in this first round. The adjustments hit a narrower set:

Form I-821 (TPS application): $500 to $510.
Form I-765 (initial EAD for asylum, parole, or TPS applicants): $550 to $560.
Form I-765 (renewal or extension EAD for parole or TPS): $275 to $280.
Annual Asylum Application Fee: $100 to $102.¹

Because these adjustments now happen every year, check the USCIS fee schedule immediately before you mail or submit. A fee from a few months back can now be wrong, and that is enough to get your filing rejected.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces FY 2026 Inflation Increase for Certain Immigration-Related Fees
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 3 – Fees
3
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.1 – Fee Requirements
4
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.2 – Fees
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Reminds Certain Employment-Based Petitioners to Submit the Correct Required Fees
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service
9
Federal Register. Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees
10
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.3 – Fee Waivers and Exemptions
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additional Information on Filing a Reduced Fee Request
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions