Immigrants Coming From Overseas: How to Pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee

If you got an "immigrant visa" to come to the U.S. as a permanent resident, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will most likely make you pay an "immigrant fee" in order to get your permanent resident card ("green card"). It's also sometimes called the "green card production fee," because that's literally what it pays for.

The only way to pay this fee is online, via USCIS's website. (You cannot mail it in.)

Who Can Make the Immigrant Fee Payment

You can pay the immigrant fee yourself, or anyone can pay your fee for you. So, if you don't have easy access to a computer, or you don't have a credit card or U.S. bank account, you can arrange for a family member, friend, lawyer, or employer to pay on your behalf.

Who Can Avoid Paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee

Only a few categories of immigrants are exempt from paying the USCIS
Immigrant Fee, including:

• Children who enter the United States under either the Orphan or
  Hague adoption programs
• Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants
• Returning residents (SB-1s), and
• people with K visas (fiancé).

If you don't see yourself on this list, expect to pay the fee. (The consulate will tell you for sure, in any case.)

When to Pay the Immigrant Fee

USCIS must receive the immigrant fee from you before it will produce and send you your green card. To avoid any delay in receiving your green card, it's best to pay the fee as soon as you get your immigrant visa packet from the consulate or embassy, before you leave for the United States.

If you wait to pay the fee until you arrive in the U.S., USCIS will send you a notice and request for payment. You won't get your green card until you pay.

The card is your best proof of U.S. permanent residence, so the sooner you get it, the better. The temporary proof of permanent residence you receive when you first arrive in the U.S. at the airport or border expires after one year.

Amount of Fee and Acceptable Forms of Payment

The USCIS immigrant fee is $235 per the new USCIS fee structure (which took effect April 1, 2024). You can pay with a credit card or debit card number (USCIS accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover), or account and routing numbers from a U.S. bank account.

You can also pay with a prepaid card (like a Visa gift card), but make sure it has enough money available. You can't split the payment between cards.

Getting Online to Pay the Fee

USCIS's online system might not work with your Web browser; it's best to use either Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox.

When you've got one of the required Web browsers open, go to the USCIS Immigrant Fee page and look for the button to press "Next" and then "Continue." Fill in the requested information (as discussed next within this article) and the system will take you through the rest.

Identifying Yourself (or the Person You're Paying For)

You will be asked to enter your alien registration number ("A-number") and Department of State (DOS) case identification number. This information was given to you after your interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy—you can find it several different places.

It's on the immigrant data summary sheet that was stapled to the front of your immigrant visa package, on the USCIS Immigrant Fee instruction paper that was given to you by the visa officer, and on the immigrant visa stamp in your passport. If someone else is paying the fee for you, you'll need to give that person this information.

Your A-number is the letter "A" followed by eight or nine numbers. If it's only eight numbers, add a zero immediately after the A to make it nine numbers before entering it into the online system.

Your "DOS Case ID" is three letters followed by nine or ten numbers. (If you're looking at your visa to check your case identification number, leave off the last two numbers you see under "IV Case Number.") If you got your visa through the diversity visa lottery, your DOS Case ID will have four numbers followed by two letters and five more numbers.

Once you have entered the A-number and Case ID number, click the "Add" button. You can pay for other people too, by adding their A-number/Case ID and clicking "Add."

Each time you click "Add," you will see a line added to the Immigrant Payee Table underneath.

USCIS's online system gives you the opportunity to review everything at this point, before you proceed to payment. If everything looks good and you're ready to pay, click the "Proceed to pay.gov" button. Pay.gov is a U.S. Treasury Department payment processing website.

Paying the Immigrant Fee

On the first page you come to on pay.gov, you'll see "Step 1: Enter Payment Information." The first option is "Pay Via Bank Account (ACH)." If you want to pay by having money taken from your bank account (it must be a U.S.-based account), enter your information in the boxes and then click the "Continue with ACH Payment" button.

If you want to pay by credit or debit card (including a prepaid card), enter your information where it says "Pay Via Plastic Card (PC)." Then click the "Continue with Plastic Card Payment."

At this point, you'll reach "Step 2: Authorize Payment." You'll see a payment summary, and a place to enter email addresses to receive confirmation of payment. Under that, check the box authorizing payment, and then click the "Submit Payment" button. Make sure you click that button once and only once—don't worry if nothing seems to be happening right away.

When payment goes through, you'll be brought to a confirmation page, which you should print out for your records.

Receiving Your Green Card

Your green card will be mailed to the U.S. address you gave when you applied for your visa. If that address has changed, make sure you tell USCIS, which is one of your legal obligations as a lawful permanent resident, and can be done online.