Where to Pay an Immigration Bond: ERO Office or CeBONDS

You can pay an immigration bond in one of two places: in person at a designated ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) bond acceptance facility, or online through the Cash Electronic Bonds system, known as CeBONDS.¹ These are the only two government-authorized channels. Federal law sets the minimum bond at $1,500, though most run higher, and ICE will not accept a partial payment through either channel.² Which channel makes sense depends on where you live, how you can move money, and what identification you carry.

Paying in Person at an ERO Field Office

Not every ICE building accepts bond payments. ICE publishes an official list of ERO bond acceptance facilities, and you should check it before driving anywhere.³ Bond hours are usually shorter than general office hours, and some offices stop processing bonds well before closing time. Call ahead the same day to confirm hours and that walk-in bond processing is available.

At the counter, payment must be by money order or cashier’s check for the exact bond amount. Write the detained person’s full legal name and A-number on the payment instrument. ICE does not accept cash, personal checks, credit or debit cards, or property as collateral, and it will not take a payment that is short by any amount.⁴

Paying Online Through CeBONDS

CeBONDS is ICE’s online bond system. It lets you verify bond eligibility, submit payment, and receive electronic confirmation without traveling to a field office.⁵ To use it, you need internet access, a valid email address, and a bank account that can send funds through Fedwire or ACH. Fedwire is the real-time wire transfer system run by the Federal Reserve; ACH is the standard bank-to-bank transfer network. Both require a bank account in your name, so people without banking access cannot use CeBONDS directly. ICE points those individuals to community-based organizations that assist with immigration bonds.¹

Inside CeBONDS, the system pulls the detainee’s name, A-number, and bond amount from ICE records and pre-populates most of Form I-352. You fill in the remaining fields, including the address where the released person will live, sign digitally, and send the funds.⁶ Confirmation arrives electronically. ICE has phased out the paper Form I-305 receipt, so the CeBONDS confirmation is your proof of payment.⁷

Who Is Allowed to Post the Bond

The person who pays and signs the bond agreement is the obligor. ICE requires the obligor to be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident, and it verifies status with specific documents.¹

U.S. citizens can present a U.S. passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or military ID. A state driver’s license or state ID also works, but only if it is REAL ID compliant. A non-compliant license will be rejected. Lawful permanent residents must present a Permanent Resident Card (green card) or a military ID. No other documents are accepted for LPRs.¹

If no eligible obligor is available, a Treasury-certified surety company can post the bond instead. Federal regulation permits bonds posted by companies holding a certificate from the Secretary of the Treasury as an acceptable surety on federal bonds.⁸

Information to Gather Before You Pay

Whichever channel you use, have the following ready before you start:

The detained person’s full legal name, spelled exactly as it appears in ICE records.
The Alien Registration Number, a nine-digit number beginning with the letter “A” that appears on immigration court documents.⁹
The exact bond amount set by ICE or the immigration judge. Partial payments are rejected.
Your identification, one of the documents listed above for citizens or LPRs.
For CeBONDS: an email address and a bank account with Fedwire or ACH capability. For an ERO office: a money order or cashier’s check made out for the full amount.

One wrong detail can stop the process. If you are not sure of the A-number or the exact bond amount, contact the detention facility or ICE before attempting payment.

Signing Form I-352

Whether you pay at a counter or online, you sign Form I-352, the official immigration bond contract issued by DHS.¹⁰ This is a binding contract between you and the government. You are guaranteeing that the released person will meet every condition of the bond, and the form spells out exactly what triggers forfeiture. Read it before you sign.

The obligations depend on the type of bond. A delivery bond, the most common, requires the released person to appear at every immigration hearing and any ICE-ordered reporting. A voluntary departure bond requires proof to ICE that the person actually left the country within 30 days of the departure deadline. An order of supervision bond guarantees compliance with the terms of an ICE Order of Supervision, which can include check-ins and travel restrictions.¹ A single missed hearing on a delivery bond, or a missed departure on a voluntary departure bond, can cost the full amount.

Cash Bond or Surety Company

Paying ICE directly, at an ERO office or through CeBONDS, means posting a cash bond: you put up the full dollar amount, and if the released person complies with all conditions until the case ends, you get the money back, potentially with accrued interest.

If the full amount is out of reach, a Treasury-certified surety company can post a surety bond on your behalf.⁸ You pay the company a non-refundable premium, typically a percentage of the total, and the company guarantees the full amount to ICE. You will not get the premium back regardless of how the case turns out, and if the bond is breached the company will pursue you for the loss.

What Happens After You Pay

Posting bond does not produce an immediate release. After the payment clears and is recorded, ICE transmits release authorization to the detention facility. That internal step can take several hours, and release may not happen until the next business day. A Friday-evening payment can mean a Monday release.

ICE does not arrange transportation. The released person typically leaves with only their belongings, sometimes without a clear sense of where they are. Call the detention center after posting to get an estimated release time so someone can be there to pick the person up.¹¹

When No Bond Can Be Paid

Not everyone in ICE custody is eligible for release on bond. Federal law requires ICE to detain individuals who are removable on certain criminal or terrorism-related grounds, and no bond payment will secure their release through the channels above.¹² Before gathering money and documents, confirm that a bond has actually been set, either by ICE at the time of arrest or by an immigration judge at a bond hearing.¹³ If the case falls into a mandatory detention category, the question shifts from where to pay to what legal options remain, and an immigration attorney is the right next call.

1
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Post a Bond
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens
3
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE ERO Bond Acceptance Facilities
4
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. How to Get a Bond
5
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE Launches Online CeBONDS Capability to Automate Bond Payments
6
Department of Homeland Security. Privacy Impact Assessment – Bonds Online System (eBONDS)
7
Regulations.gov. Agency Information Collection Activities – Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Immigration Bond
8
eCFR. 8 CFR 103.6 – Immigration Bonds
9
Department of Justice. Do You Need to Post a Bond
10
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE Form I-352 – Immigration Bond
11
National Immigrant Justice Center. Getting Out: Getting Home After Release from ICE Detention
12
Congress.gov. INA 236(c) Mandatory Detention
13
Department of Justice / Executive Office for Immigration Review. All About Bonds