USCIS Begins New Process for Paying Application Fees at a Field Office
We will start requiring most applicants, attorneys, and accredited representatives to pay the fees for forms filed at a field office by mail or remotely, instead of in person at a field office.
What You Need to Know
We receive most of our immigration benefit requests through a Lockbox or a service center. However, in limited instances, we may receive a USCIS form through a local USCIS office. To file a form or pay a fee at a local office, applicants, petitioners, and requestors must schedule an appointment in advance with the USCIS Contact Center and physically visit a field office to make certain application fee payments. We are changing that process.
Beginning Feb. 1, 2024, there will be three methods for paying fees to USCIS for field office filings:
By mail with credit or debit card. Applicants, petitioners, or requestors may mail a check or Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, to the field office and no longer need to make an appointment and appear in person.
Emergency Form I-131 filings. Applicants submitting Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, with an emergency advance parole request must still apply in person, after making an appointment through the USCIS Contact Center, with their form packet (including any applicable payment and supporting documentation) and pay their application fee by credit card with Form G-1450 or check at the field office once approved.
EOIR filings by representatives. Attorneys and accredited representatives can now process payments for the Executive Office of Immigration Review and Board of Immigration Appeals through a link provided in an auto-reply email from the USCIS Contact Center. Attorneys and accredited representatives must mail in their client’s EOIR-29, Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals from a Decision of a DHS Officer, their EOIR-27, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Representative Before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Pay.gov receipt to the field office once the payment is processed.
Background
We expect that this new process will save applicants, petitioners, requestors, and their attorneys and accredited representatives time and money because most people will no longer need to make an appointment to physically visit a field office to pay certain benefit request filing fees or other fees. More field office appointment times will be available for people who need an InfoMod appointment.
For more information about the new process, see the USCIS Field Office webpage.