Where to File Form I-485: Direct Filing Addresses by Category

Where you file Form I-485 depends on which eligibility category you’re adjusting under, and USCIS publishes the current mailing addresses on a single page called “Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485.”¹ Check that page the day you mail. USCIS moves categories between facilities based on workload, and a package sent to an outdated or wrong address can be returned without a filing date, which in some situations means losing your place in line entirely.

Your Category Decides the Address

USCIS routes I-485 packages to different intake facilities depending on how you qualify for a green card. Before you can pick an address, you need to know which of three groups you fall into.

Family-based. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under twenty-one, and parents of citizens who are at least twenty-one) use one set of addresses. Other family preference categories, such as married adult children or siblings of citizens, use different addresses that can shift with visa availability.
Employment-based. Workers filing under the employment preferences (extraordinary ability through skilled workers) file to employment addresses. EB-5 immigrant investors have their own designated address.
Humanitarian. Refugees physically present in the United States for at least one year and asylees who have held that status for at least one year file under their own category-specific addresses.

These categories come from the adjustment-of-status statute, which requires that you were inspected and admitted or paroled, that you’re eligible for an immigrant visa, and that a visa number is immediately available when you file.² Sending the package to the address for the wrong category can lead to outright rejection rather than a routine transfer inside USCIS.

Finding Your Exact Address on the USCIS Page

The direct filing addresses page is organized as a set of tables — one for humanitarian filers, one for family-based, one for employment-based, and separate entries for special programs.¹ Locate the table that matches your eligibility path, then find the row for your specific subcategory. Each row lists two addresses: a P.O. Box for U.S. Postal Service delivery, and a physical street address for private couriers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL.

The delivery method controls which of those two you use. Private couriers cannot deliver to a P.O. Box, and USPS cannot deliver a standard letter package to a Lockbox loading dock, so mismatching the two is a common reason packages come back. Most I-485 filings arrive at a USCIS Lockbox, an intake facility that collects fees, opens the mail, records the filing date, and forwards the case for adjudication.

Form I-485 cannot be filed online. It must be mailed on paper.³ Use a trackable service with signature confirmation so you have independent proof of delivery in case the paper receipt is delayed.

Confirming You’re Allowed to File Yet

An I-485 sent before a visa number is available is not just early. It’s not filable, and the Lockbox will reject it. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt from numerical limits and can always file. Everyone else in a preference category has to check the Visa Bulletin.

Each month, USCIS states whether adjustment applicants should use the “Dates for Filing” chart or the “Final Action Dates” chart from the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin. When USCIS determines that more immigrant visas are available for the fiscal year than there are known applicants, it authorizes the more generous “Dates for Filing” chart; otherwise, the “Final Action Dates” chart controls.⁴ Compare your priority date to the applicable chart for your category and country of chargeability before you mail.

Concurrent Filing With the Underlying Petition

In many cases you can mail the I-485 in the same envelope as the underlying immigrant petition (Form I-130 or Form I-140) rather than waiting for the petition to be approved first.⁵ Immediate relatives can always file concurrently. Preference-category applicants (family and employment) can file concurrently only in months when a visa number is available for their priority date under the applicable chart. When you file concurrently, both petitions, all fees, and all supporting documents go together to the I-485 filing address for your category.

What Goes in the Envelope

Reaching the correct facility is only half the problem. A package can arrive at the right Lockbox and still be rejected if the fee is unpayable or a required document is missing.

Filing Fee and Payment Method

The I-485 fee is $1,440 for applicants fourteen and older, and $950 for applicants under fourteen filing at the same time as a parent.⁶ Filing and biometric fees are nonrefundable regardless of the outcome.⁷

As of late 2025, USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper filings unless a specific exemption applies.⁷ For mailed I-485s, the two accepted methods are a credit or debit card authorization on Form G-1450, or an ACH bank debit authorization on Form G-1650. Place the signed payment form on top of the package so the Lockbox processes it first. A payment USCIS can’t run causes the whole package to be rejected without establishing a filing date.⁸

If you cannot afford the fee, you can request a waiver using Form I-912 based on current receipt of a means-tested public benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or extreme financial hardship.⁹ Asylees adjusting status may also submit Form I-912.¹⁰

Supporting Documents

Requirements vary by category, but most I-485 packages need:

A birth certificate from your country of birth. If unavailable, secondary evidence such as church or school records, with an explanation of why the original can’t be obtained; if even secondary evidence is impossible, two or more sworn statements from people with direct knowledge of your birth.
Two identical passport-style photographs meeting USCIS specifications.
A copy of a government-issued ID, typically the biographical page of your passport.
Your most recent Form I-94 arrival/departure record.
Form I-693, the medical examination completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon.

Any document not in English needs a certified English translation. The translator must certify in writing that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate between the two languages, and must include their name, signature, address, and date.¹¹

Most family-based applicants also need Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, signed by the petitioning relative, with a joint sponsor’s I-864 added if the petitioner’s income is too low. Self-petitioning widow(er)s, self-petitioning battered spouses and children, and applicants credited with forty qualifying quarters of Social Security work are exempt from the I-864 requirement.

Medical Examination and Vaccinations

The Form I-693 medical exam must be done by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon and includes a vaccination assessment. Required vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus and diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B, plus any additional vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. As of January 2025, the COVID-19 vaccination is no longer required for adjustment applicants.¹² Civil surgeon exam fees are paid directly to the doctor, separately from the USCIS filing fee.

Optional: Work Permit and Advance Parole

You can file Form I-765 for work authorization and Form I-131 for advance parole in the same envelope as your I-485. Since April 2024 these forms carry their own fees rather than being bundled with the I-485 fee.¹³ USCIS recommends paying each filing fee on a separate payment form so that a problem with one payment doesn’t cause the entire package to be rejected.⁷

One boundary worth stating: leaving the United States while your I-485 is pending, without an approved advance parole document, can be treated as abandonment of the application. Unauthorized employment during the pending period carries similar risks. Filing I-765 and I-131 with the I-485 is the way to avoid gaps.

Assembling and Sending the Package

Assemble the materials in a logical order with the signed payment authorization (G-1450 or G-1650) on top. If you want an email or text alert the moment USCIS accepts your filing, clip Form G-1145 to the front of the first page; you’ll typically receive the electronic notification within twenty-four hours of acceptance, well before the paper receipt arrives.¹⁴

Before sealing the envelope, pull up the direct filing addresses page one more time and re-verify two things: that the row you’re using still matches your category and subcategory, and that you’re using the P.O. Box for USPS or the street address for FedEx, UPS, or DHL.¹ Ship with tracking and signature confirmation.

After the Package Arrives

Once the Lockbox accepts your filing, USCIS mails Form I-797C, Notice of Action, with a unique receipt number you can use to check case status online.¹⁵ Keep the I-797C. It is your proof that the application is pending.

Federal law also requires every noncitizen in the United States to report a change of address to USCIS within ten days of moving, by filing Form AR-11 online or by mail.¹⁶ Once your I-485 is on file, that obligation matters more than usual: interview notices, requests for evidence, and approval notices all go to the address USCIS has on record, and a missed notice can undo the filing you just worked to get accepted.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status of Nonimmigrant to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Forms Available to File Online
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Concurrent Filing of Form I-485
6
USCIS. G-1055 Fee Schedule
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additional Information on Filing a Fee Waiver
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Asylees
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485, Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Vaccination Requirements
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule
14
USCIS. Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Alien’s Change of Address Card