I-130 Fee in 2026: Filing Cost, How to Pay and Total Costs

The Form I-130 filing fee is $625 if you file online and $675 if you file on paper. Those amounts come from the USCIS Fee Schedule, Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, which was the current edition when this page was checked on October 14, 2026. The fee is charged per petition, it cannot be waived, and it is not refunded whatever the outcome. A separate round of inflation increases takes effect October 16, 2026, but it covers only certain fees created by the 2025 budget law (asylum, parole and Temporary Protected Status items) and does not change the I-130 amount.

The petition fee is only the first bill in a family green card case. This guide covers how to pay it correctly, what gets a payment rejected, and what the rest of the process costs, with every figure tied to the agency that sets it. It is general information, not legal advice. Before paying, confirm the amount on the USCIS Fee Schedule page.

I-130 Fee at a Glance

The $50 difference is the standard online-filing discount that USCIS introduced in its fee rule effective April 1, 2024. That rule raised the I-130 from $535 to the present two-tier price. The $535 fee itself came from the previous fee rule, published in October 2016 and effective December 23, 2016, which raised the petition from $420. The fee has not changed since.

Who Pays, and How Many Times

The petitioner, meaning the U.S. citizen or permanent resident, files and pays. Every relative needs a separate petition and a separate fee, with one exception: in the visa-capped preference categories, the beneficiary's spouse and unmarried children under 21 are derivative beneficiaries who are listed on the same petition at no extra cost. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have no derivatives.

Many permanent residents still file separate F2A petitions for each child even though it is not required. The reason is practical: if the petitioner later becomes a citizen, the case converts to immediate relative, where derivatives do not exist, and each child then needs a petition of their own.

How to Pay the I-130 Filing Fee

Online filing

When you file through a USCIS online account, the system sends you to Pay.gov at the end. You can pay with a credit, debit or prepaid card, or by ACH debit from a U.S. bank account. The receipt notice appears in the account once payment clears.

Paper filing: no more checks for most people

This is the biggest change in recent years. Following Executive Order 14247 on federal payments, USCIS announced that effective October 28, 2025 it accepts only electronic payment for mailed forms. The current instructions give paper filers two options:

• Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit, debit or prepaid cards are accepted. Place the form on top of the package.
• Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions. USCIS debits a U.S. checking or savings account. Mark which type of account it is; USCIS lists a missing account type among the reasons for rejection.

Personal checks, business checks, money orders and cashier's checks are accepted only if you qualify for an exemption and include a signed Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment, with the package. USCIS lists the grounds: no access to banking services or electronic payment systems, undue hardship from electronic payment, national security or law enforcement reasons, or other circumstances set by the Treasury. Form G-1651 costs nothing to file and cannot be sent separately from the petition.

Rules that prevent a rejected payment

• Pay the exact amount. USCIS states that a filing with an incorrect fee is rejected.
• One payment per petition. USCIS recommends a separate G-1450 or G-1650 for each form. If one combined payment covers three petitions and one petition is defective, all three are rejected.
• One method per petition. You cannot pay part of a single fee by card and part by ACH. You may split one fee across two cards by submitting two G-1450 forms whose amounts add up exactly.
• Check the card limit. If a card is declined, USCIS says it will not try again and may reject the filing for lack of payment.
• Sign the authorization. An incomplete G-1450 can sink the whole package.
• Never send cash. USCIS does not accept it, even at a field office.

A rejection is not a denial. The package comes back, you fix the problem and refile. But for preference categories the priority date is the day a properly filed petition is received, so a rejected payment can cost a place in line.

Can the I-130 Fee Be Waived or Reduced?

No. Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, applies only to specific forms and categories, and the family petition is not one of them. There is also no reduced-fee option and no fee exemption listed for Form I-130 on the fee schedule. The only way to lower the cost is to file online, which saves $50 per petition.

The one related zero-fee item on the schedule is Form I-129F when a citizen files it to seek K-3 status for a spouse based on an I-130 already filed; that filing category is listed at $0.

Is the I-130 Fee Refundable?

USCIS's policy is that "filing and biometric service fees are final and nonrefundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request." A denial, a withdrawal, a divorce before the decision, or the death of the beneficiary does not bring the money back. The practical lesson is to check eligibility before filing, especially the bars described in the Form I-130 guide.

Concurrent Filing I-130 and I-485: Fees

When the relative is in the United States and eligible to adjust status with a visa immediately available, the petition and the green card application can go in together. Fees on the 10/07/26 schedule:

A typical paper package for one adult spouse who wants both a work permit and a travel document adds up to $675 + $1,440 + $260 + $630 = $3,005 in government fees, before the medical exam. Without the optional work and travel documents it is $2,115. USCIS now offers online I-485 filing for certain applicants, though an unrepresented applicant generally cannot submit it online at the same moment as the I-130; check the agency's Forms Available to File Online page. The I-485 must be on the 09/18/26 edition.

Fees After I-130 Approval: Consular Processing

If the relative will interview abroad, the next fees go to the State Department, then one more to USCIS.

The State Department fees are from its Fees for Visa Services page, read October 14, 2026. The NVC takes them only online, from a U.S. bank account, one at a time, and says to allow 10 calendar days for a payment to process before the DS-260 visa application unlocks. The $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee pays for producing the green card; USCIS will not mail the card until it is paid.

Adding it up for one spouse abroad filed online: $625 + $325 + $120 + $235 = $1,305 in government fees, plus the medical exam, civil documents, translations and travel.

Other Fees You Might Meet

The appeal fee is worth a pause. At $1,060, appealing costs more than filing a new petition, which is one reason many families whose petition was denied for missing evidence simply refile with a stronger package. Which choice fits depends on why the petition was denied, and that is a question for a lawyer.

The Financial Sponsor Requirement Is Not a Fee, but Plan for It

The petitioner must also sign Form I-864, a legally enforceable promise to support the immigrant, and generally show household income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines (100% for active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child). Under the guidelines USCIS says took effect March 1, 2026, the 125% line in the 48 contiguous states, D.C. and most territories is:

Alaska and Hawaii have higher figures ($33,813 and $31,113 for a household of two). A petitioner who falls short can use assets or a joint sponsor. In August 2026 the State Department also described a pilot procedure in which consular officers may require certain immigrant visa applicants to apply for a public charge bond; officers set the amount case by case, and the department says applicants who must post one are told by the consular officer.

Costs USCIS Does Not Charge but You Will Probably Pay

• Certified copies of birth, marriage and divorce records.
• Translations of every foreign-language document, each with a translator's certification.
• Passport-style photographs for spouse petitions.
• Tracked mail or courier for a paper package.
• Police certificates and the medical exam for consular cases.
• Attorney or accredited-representative fees, if you use one. Rates vary widely and are not regulated by USCIS.

When Could the I-130 Fee Change Next?

USCIS sets most fees by regulation, after a proposed rule and public comment period published in the Federal Register, and there has been no such change to the I-130 since April 1, 2024. As of October 14, 2026 the agency's fee alerts concern other items: the annual inflation adjustment to fees created by Public Law 119-21 (effective October 16, 2026) and a September 2026 change to EB-5 investor fees. Because the fee schedule is revised often for unrelated reasons (the October 7, 2026 edition added online fees for two worker petitions), the safe habit is to open the G-1055 page on the day you file and match the amount to the cent.

How long the petition takes once the fee is paid is covered in I-130 processing time, the documents to send with it in the I-130 checklist, and the steps and bills that follow approval in what happens after I-130 is approved.