Form G-1651 is the USCIS form you file to ask permission to pay an immigration filing fee with a paper check or money order instead of paying electronically. Since October 28, 2025, USCIS has required electronic payment for nearly all benefit requests sent by mail, so if you don’t have a bank account, credit card, debit card, or prepaid card, you need this exemption approved before the agency will accept a paper payment.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds The form never travels alone. It has to be mailed inside the same package as the application it belongs to, with the paper payment attached.
Why USCIS Now Requires Electronic Payment
Before October 28, 2025, USCIS routinely accepted personal checks and money orders in the mail. That ended when the agency moved to mandatory electronic payment under an executive order on modernizing federal payments. If you mail an application now, the fee has to come in on Form G-1450 (which authorizes a credit, debit, or prepaid card charge) or Form G-1650 (which authorizes an ACH debit from a U.S. bank account).1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds Applications filed through the USCIS online portal pay through Pay.gov.
Sending a check without an approved G-1651 exemption will get your whole package rejected and returned. That’s the problem the form solves: it’s the narrow door that keeps paper payment available for filers who genuinely cannot pay any other way.
Who Qualifies for the Exemption
On the form, you certify that electronic payment is not possible for you and that at least one of these situations applies:2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment
- You have no bank account, credit card, debit card, or prepaid card and cannot reasonably obtain one.
- Electronic payment would cause you undue hardship as defined under 31 CFR Part 208.
- A non-electronic transaction is necessary or desirable for national security or law enforcement reasons.
- The Secretary of the Treasury has otherwise identified your circumstances as appropriate for exemption.
Most individual filers rely on the first or second category. The “no access” basis covers people who are unbanked, lack the identification banks require, or live where banking is not accessible. The hardship basis is broader and can cover situations where the cost or difficulty of setting up electronic payment is out of proportion to the transaction. The national security and Treasury categories are narrow and rarely apply to typical applicants.
One boundary worth stating clearly: G-1651 changes only how you pay. It does not reduce or waive the fee. If you cannot afford the fee at all, the form you need is I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, which is a separate process.
Because G-1651 is a signed certification rather than an evidence-heavy application, you don’t need to file a stack of documents with it. A short written explanation tied to the category you’re claiming — why you can’t open an account, why obtaining a card isn’t feasible — is usually enough to hold in reserve if USCIS questions your eligibility.
Try a Prepaid Card Before Filing G-1651
Before starting down the exemption path, know that USCIS accepts prepaid credit cards through Form G-1450.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions If the reason you can’t pay electronically is that you don’t have a bank account or a traditional credit card, a prepaid card bought at a retail store with cash usually solves the problem. USCIS has specifically pointed to this option for filers without U.S. bank accounts.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds The card has to be issued by a U.S. bank and loaded with enough to cover the full fee.
This route is faster and carries no risk of an exemption being rejected. If a prepaid card is genuinely out of reach, G-1651 is the next step.
How to Fill Out and Submit the Form
Download the current edition of Form G-1651 from the USCIS website. You’ll certify which exemption category applies, and the person paying the fee has to sign. An unsigned form will be rejected.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment If someone other than the applicant is paying, that person signs the G-1651.
You cannot file G-1651 by itself, and you cannot file it before or after the associated application. It goes in the same envelope as the benefit request and the paper payment. Place the G-1651 on top of the application, with the check or money order attached, and mail everything to the lockbox address in the “Where to File” instructions for your specific form. A tracked mail service gives you a delivery record if anything goes wrong in transit.
If you’ve already filed electronically or paid electronically, you can’t switch to paper afterward using G-1651.
Paper Payments USCIS Will Accept
With an approved G-1651, USCIS will accept:2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment
- Personal check
- Business check
- Money order
- Bank draft
- Cashier’s check
All payments must be drawn on a U.S. financial institution and payable in U.S. currency.4eCFR. 8 CFR 106.1 – Fee Requirements Make the instrument payable to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security.” The amount must match the current fee schedule exactly. A wrong amount, even by a dollar, will cause the package to be rejected.
Paper Filings Cost More Than Online Filings
USCIS charges more for paper filings than for the same form filed online, typically about $50 more per form. Filing an I-90 on paper is $465 versus $415 online; I-130 is $675 versus $625; I-485 for applicants over 14 is $1,440 versus $1,390.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 – Fee Schedule Some petitions, especially investor-related ones, run well above $3,000. Check the current fee schedule for your specific form before you write the check.
What Happens After You Mail It
USCIS doesn’t publish a separate processing timeline for the exemption itself. The G-1651 is reviewed as part of the initial intake of your application, so there’s no standalone decision letter. If everything is in order, you’ll receive Form I-797C, Notice of Action, confirming that USCIS accepted the filing and payment.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797 – Types and Functions Keep that notice. The receipt number on it is how you check case status online or by phone.
If something is wrong, the entire package comes back. Watch your mail closely in the weeks after submission.
If Your Package Is Rejected
Rejection is not the same as denial. A denial means USCIS reviewed your case and said no. A rejection means the agency never accepted the filing in the first place. Common reasons when G-1651 is in the mix: an unsigned form, an exemption category the filer doesn’t actually meet, a fee amount that doesn’t match the schedule, or a payment that fails to clear.
The consequence that matters most is the filing date. USCIS policy states that if a payment fails, the filer does not retain the receipt date.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Volume 1 – General Policies and Procedures, Part B – Submission of Benefit Requests, Chapter 3 – Fees For any application where timing controls the outcome, such as an adjustment of status filing tied to a visa bulletin priority date, losing that date can cost months if the priority date retrogresses before you refile.
Because a rejection is not a formal decision on the merits, it generally cannot be appealed through Form I-290B. The path forward is to fix whatever caused the rejection and mail a new, complete package. The returned materials usually include a notice explaining what went wrong. When the underlying issue is the payment method itself, switching to a prepaid card with Form G-1450 for the resubmission is often the fastest way to get accepted.