What Is Form I-391? Refund, Breach Notice, and CeBONDS

Form I-391, “Notice — Immigration Bond Cancelled,” is the document U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sends to the person who posted a cash immigration bond once the bond is no longer in effect. Receiving it means the obligor’s financial liability has ended and the deposit, plus any interest that accrued while the government held it, can be refunded.¹

When ICE Cancels a Bond and Issues Form I-391

An immigration bond stays active until ICE formally cancels it by issuing Form I-391.² The regulation on point, 8 CFR 103.6, provides that “substantial performance of all conditions imposed by the terms of a bond shall release the obligor from liability.”³

What actually triggers cancellation depends on the type of bond:

Delivery bond: cancelled when ICE takes the individual back into custody, removes them from the United States, or the individual dies, provided no breach has already occurred.²
Voluntary departure bond: cancelled when an immigration judge grants voluntary departure and the obligor provides proof that the individual left on time, or if the individual dies before the departure date.²
Order of supervision bond: cancelled when the individual complies with all terms of the order of supervision while it remains in effect.²

More broadly, ICE cancels a bond once the underlying immigration case has ended and the person obtained legal status, was deported, departed voluntarily, or left the country before proceedings concluded.⁴

How to Claim the Refund

Only cash bonds deposited directly with ICE or DHS are refundable by the government. If you paid a private surety company to post the bond, the premium you paid that company is its fee, not a government deposit, and the government does not refund it.⁴

Once ICE cancels the bond, it mails the I-391 to the address on the bond contract. If you posted through the CeBONDS electronic platform, the notice may be delivered inside that system.¹ To request the refund, mail the following originals to the Debt Management Center:

Form I-391, the cancellation notice from ICE.
Form I-305, “Receipt of Immigration Officer,” which you were given when you posted the bond.
Form I-352, the bond contract, if you have it.

If Form I-305 has been lost, you can substitute a completed and notarized Form I-395, “Affidavit in Lieu of Lost Receipt.”⁴ Without either the original receipt or that notarized affidavit, the Debt Management Center will not process the refund.⁵

Where to Send It

Mail the package to:⁴

Debt Management Center
Attention: Bond Unit
P.O. Box 5000
Williston, VT 05495-5000

For questions after a cancellation or breach notice, the Financial Service Center in Burlington can be reached at 877-491-6521, Option 1, or by email at BondRefund.HelpDesk@ice.dhs.gov.² The Debt Management Center’s direct number is (802) 288-7600.⁴

How Long It Takes and What You Get Back

Once the Debt Management Center has the required paperwork, refunds generally take about four weeks to process.⁴ Measured from the day the case concludes to the day a check arrives, the process can run a couple of months.⁵

The refund is the original deposit plus interest. By statute, interest on cash immigration bonds accrues from the date of deposit and is capped at 3% per year.⁶⁷ Treasury sets the exact quarterly rate using 91-day Treasury bill yields, but it cannot exceed that 3% ceiling.⁸

If You Never Received Your I-391

The most common breakdown in the refund process is simple: the I-391 goes to whatever address is on the bond contract, and immigration cases can drag on for months or years, so notices routinely land at addresses obligors no longer live at.⁹

To keep your address current, file ICE Form I-333, “Obligor Change of Address.” A separate form is required for each bond you hold. It can be mailed to the enforcement office where the bond was posted or delivered in person to an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office.¹⁰

If the notice never came and you believe the case is over, don’t assume the money is gone. The Stanford Immigrants’ Rights Clinic advises contacting the ICE field office that handled the case to ask about the bond’s status.⁴ Field office contact information is at ice.gov/contact/ero.

Two other issues delay refunds. A lost Form I-305 receipt requires the notarized Form I-395 substitute before the Debt Management Center will act. And if the bonded individual left the country through voluntary departure, the bond is not cancelled until ICE receives official proof of departure from a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad; if the departure happened outside a voluntary departure order, the obligor has to supply evidence such as boarding passes or passport stamps.⁵

When ICE Sends a Breach Notice Instead

If the bonded individual violated the conditions of release, by missing a court hearing or an ICE check-in for example, ICE declares the bond breached rather than cancelled and sends Form I-323 in place of Form I-391.³ A breached bond means the principal is forfeited to the federal government, though the obligor is still entitled to any interest that accrued on the deposit.²

A breach determination can be challenged through an administrative appeal, and failing to file a timely appeal waives all defenses and allows ICE to begin collecting on the debt.¹¹ If ICE later determines a breach was issued in error, it can rescind the decision using Form 71-042 and either reinstate or cancel the bond.¹

Electronic Delivery Through CeBONDS

A final rule effective January 6, 2025 formalized ICE’s authority to serve Form I-391, along with breach notices (I-323), delivery demand notices (I-340), and breach reconsideration notices (Form 71-042), electronically through the CeBONDS system.¹ Electronic service is voluntary. An obligor has to consent, and if ICE cannot confirm that the electronic notice was opened, the notice must be reissued by mail.³ Opening the notice inside CeBONDS counts as valid proof of service. If you posted a bond through CeBONDS, check the platform as well as your mail.

1
Federal Register. Immigration Bond Notifications
2
ICE. Detention Management – Bonds
3
eCFR. 8 CFR 103.6 – Immigration Bonds
4
Stanford Law School. Immigration Bond One-Pager
5
Nolo. Paid an Immigration Bond – How to Get Money Back
6
GovInfo. 8 CFR 103.6
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1363 – Deposit of and Interest on Cash Received
8
Federal Register. Interest Rate Paid on Cash Deposited to Secure ICE Immigration Bonds
9
Justia. Getting Back Your Bond
10
ICE. ICE Form I-333
11
Cornell Law Institute. 8 CFR 103.6 – Immigration Bonds