USCIS Immigrant Fee

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We strongly encourage you to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee after you pick up your immigrant visa from the Department of State and before you depart for the United States.

If you cannot pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, a family member, friend, employer, attorney, or accredited representative can pay for you. If someone pays the fee for you, they will need your Alien Number (A-Number) and Department of State (DOS) Case ID.

You may also pay the fee after you arrive in the United States. If you choose this option, we will send you a notice requesting payment with instructions on paying your fee. You will not receive your Green Card until you have paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee.

Exemptions

The following groups do not have to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee:

• Children who enter the United States under the orphan or Hague adoption programs;
• Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants;
• Other Afghan nationals (through Sept. 30, 2024);
• Returning lawful permanent residents (SB-1s); and
• K nonimmigrants.

You must pay the fee online. The U.S. embassy or consulate will give you your:

• A-Number (the letter “A” followed by 8 or 9 numbers);
• DOS Case ID (3 letters followed by 9 or 10 numbers);
• Instructions for paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee;
• Immigrant Data Summary; and
• Sealed immigrant visa packet.

If you are a Diversity Visa immigrant, your DOS Case ID will have 4 numbers followed by 2 letters and 5 more numbers (for example: 0000AB01234).

Payment Methods

To pay a fee, you can use a:

• Credit card
• Debit card
• Pre-paid debit card (such as a Visa gift card)
  • If you pay with a pre-paid debit card, you may use only 1 card. The card must have enough money on it to pay for you and any family members.
• U.S. bank account, also known as an Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment
  • To pay with a U.S. bank account, you must provide a U.S. checking account number and routing number for your U.S. bank.

If you have a problem paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee, see our Need Help page.

Failure to Pay

If you do not pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee within the time listed in the notice, you will not receive your Green Card. If you do not pay the fee, it will not affect your status as a lawful permanent resident. However, you will only have evidence of your lawful permanent status for 1 year from the date of your admission, as shown by the temporary I-551 stamp CBP placed in your passport when you entered the United States.

To track the status of your Green Card, please go to the Case Status Online page.

We will only mail your Green Card to the U.S. mailing address you give to the Department of State during your immigrant visa interview or to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer when you are admitted to the United States. If you plan on living at a different U.S. address immediately after you enter the United States, please give that address to the CBP officer to ensure you receive your Green Card.

If you do not receive your Green Card within 90 days of paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee or entering the United States (if you paid the fee before you arrived) please submit our online help form to request assistance. You can also submit an inquiry online using our e-request tool.

Please make sure that USCIS and the post office have your correct mailing address.

• We will mail your Green Card to the most recent U.S. mailing address that we have on file. This could be the address you provided to the DOS at the time of your immigrant visa interview or to the CBP officer when you are admitted to the United States.
• If you plan on living at a different U.S. address immediately after you enter the United States, please give that address to the CBP officer or update your address (after taking the identity verification quiz and creating your USCIS online account) to ensure that your card arrives at your new home.
• If you move after you arrive in the United States, please update your address with USCIS through your USCIS online account. Also, we recommend that you update your address online with the U.S. Postal Service or by visiting your local U.S. post office.  Please visit our page on How To Change Your Address for additional information.  

This fee is not related to the immigrant visa application fees collected by DOS. Go to the Our Fees page to see what the current USCIS Immigrant Fee is.

You can find step-by-step instructions in the Immigrant Fee Payment Guide.

If you have any questions about paying the fee, or if you accidentally paid twice or otherwise feel you paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee in error, you can submit an online help form.