Effective October 29, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will transition to primarily electronic payments for immigration benefits. Here is what you need to know about this upcoming shift. Importantly, after October 28, 2025, USCIS will no longer accept paper-based payments like checks and money orders, absent limited exemptions.
What is Included in the Transition?
Starting October 29, 2025, USCIS will require most applicants to submit their payments electronically when filing for immigration benefits, which include but are not limited to:
- Immigration applications, including Forms I-485 for adjustment of status to legal permanent residency, Form I-765 for the employment authorization document (EAD) and Form I-539 to change or extend nonimmigrant visa status;
- Immigration petitions, including Form I-129 for employment-based cases such as H-1B visa petitions and L-1 intracompany transferee visa petitions and Form I-140 immigrant visa petition based on a certified PERM labor certification application, EB-1A extraordinary ability status, EB-2 National Interest Waiver and EB-1C multinational executive/manager
What are the electronic-based exemptions?
At present, there is very little detailed information on exemptions. To address these exemptions, USCIS will release, before or on October 28, 2025, a new Form G-1651 for electronic-based exemption requests. USCIS has suggested that individuals without access to U.S. banking or payment services may use Form G-1450 with a prepaid U.S. card.
What types of electronic-based payments will USCIS accept?
USCIS will accept credit card payments and ACH (Automated Clearing House) debit payments from US bank accounts.
What tips are there for ensuring proper electronic payments?
There are many important rules to follow to ensure that USCIS accepts the electronic filing fees. Here are helpful tips from USCIS and American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA):
- All payments must be made from a U.S. bank and payable in U.S. dollars. USCIS will not accept any payments from a foreign bank, including ACH, card payments, or paper-based payments. ACH payments may come from either a personal or business account.
- Place the form on top of your application, petition, or request package when you file it.
- Like the G-1450, the G-1650 has a field for identifying information like the petitioner/applicant/requestor name, but does not contain a field for the beneficiary’s name, case type, etc.
- The association of any given G-1650 will be primarily dependent on that name and the physical filing in which Form G-1650 arrived.
- For ACH payments, ensure the bank account has sufficient funds, and the account does not have a debit block for USCIS ACH withdrawals. If the transaction is declined, USCIS may reject the entire filing.
- Fees do not need to be paid by the applicant, petitioner, or requester
- USCIS may run an ACH payment twice before rejecting if the payment returns as unpayable for insufficient funds. Any other reason for a return as unpayable will be rejected.
- Debit blocks from an account should be removed for the ACH transaction codes used by USCIS. USCIS provides these USCIS Agency Location Codes (ALC+2) both in the Form G-1650 instructions and in the form’s related resources. Form G-1650 includes the USCIS Agency Location Codes (ALC+2) for the lockboxes only.
- If a payment is unfunded at the time of filing, generally, no receipt notice is issued. However, if a receipt was issued, the unfunded payment renders it void, and the application, petition, or request does not retain the receipt date.
- If a payment was unfunded after the benefit request was approved, USCIS may revoke, rescind, or cancel the approval with notice, typically in the form of a Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOIR). USCIS may also, at its sole discretion, bill for the unpaid fees.
- Submit a separate form for each application, petition, or request—even when using the same bank account. USCIS has indicated that all applicable fees for an individual request may be paid together on a single Form G-1650. USCIS has also indicated that multiple applications, petitions, or requests will require individual Forms G-1650 if filed concurrently. (See USCIS-provided chart below.)
- If paying one filing using multiple bank accounts, submit separate forms for each partial amount, ensuring the totals for each separate Form G-1650 sum correctly to the total fee for the application, petition, or request. USCIS may reject filings with mismatched or insufficient payment authorizations. (See USCIS-provided chart below.)
- Premium processing fees through filing a Form I-907 should be paid via a separate Form G-1650 as a separate request and pursuant to the current credit card practice using Form G-1450.
- Note: USCIS has not, at this time, specifically clarified this point for Form G-1650; however, paying with a separate Form G-1650 for premium processing appears to be the safest approach as of the writing of this alert.
- USCIS has confirmed that only one payment method (i.e., ACH vs. credit card) may be used per application, petition, or request. Either ACH or credit card(s) may be used. A Form G-1650 for ACH and a Form G-1450 for credit cards cannot be submitted together to pay for a single application, petition, or request. (See USCIS-provided chart below.)
- Note: USCIS has not indicated whether before October 28, 2025, if the Agency will or will not accept mix payments between ACH and paper-based payments. It is advisable not to mix these payment methods without guidance from USCIS.
- Similarly, when filing concurrent applications, petitions, and requests together in the same mailing to USCIS, the Agency has indicated that when submitting, only one payment method may be used, between ACH or credit card(s). (See USCIS-provided chart below.) See above note on mixing with paper-based payments.
- Review the web page for the form you are filing and the G-1055, Fee Schedule, to identify separate payment requirements that may apply. USCIS has indicated that some forms may require multiple fees, and the fees may require separate payment instruments and Forms G-1650 because the funds are deposited in different systems. However, further clarification as to which forms those might be, has not provided.
- Tips for Completion of Form G-1650:
- Completely and accurately fill out the form to avoid rejection.
- Ensure to add the applicant, petitioner, or requester’s name. Based on Form G-1450 guidance, if the petitioner or requester is a company, then place the company name in the “given name” or “family name” field.
- The Bank Account Holder Information must be completed as to a business or personal account, and the account holder’s complete name as it appears on the account (either personal or business name).
- Ensure to provide the correct Bank Account Information, including the type of account, bank name, routing number, and account number. As well as clearly indicating the total authorized payment amount for a given Form G-1650 (especially if splitting payments between multiple G-1650s in a given application, petition, or request).
- Avoid scanned signatures that are unclear or appear not to align with USCIS wet-ink signature policy. It is best practice to submit Form G-1650 with a wet signature to avoid a rejection, but a clear scan of a wet signature is also acceptable.
- Completely and accurately fill out the form to avoid rejection.
- Form G-1650 will be destroyed by USCIS regardless of whether the case is accepted for filing or rejected, including for payment issues. Any future re-filing will require the submission of a new payment method (Form G-1650, Form G-1450, etc.).
- Form G-1650 will be destroyed by USCIS regardless of whether the case is accepted for filing or rejected, including for payment issues. Any future re-filing will require the submission of a new payment method (Form G-1650, Form G-1450, etc.).
| If you submit… | And wish to pay with… | Then you must |
| One application, petition, or request | One bank account | Pay the entire fee for that application, petition, or request using a single Form G-1650. |
| One application, petition, or request | Two bank accounts (split payment) | Complete 2 Form G-1650 authorizations (1 for each transaction) and specify the amount you wish to pay with each transaction.
Make sure the amounts on both Form G-1650 authorizations add up to the correct total. USCIS will reject a filing with an incorrect fee payment amount. Please complete a single Form G-1650 for each transaction and ensure the total amount of the filing fee is correct between the 2 authorizations. (For example, you could pay a $400 filing fee with a $200 payment on the first G-1650 authorization and a $200 payment on the second G-1650 authorization.) |
| Three applications, petitions, or request | One bank account | Submit separate Form G-1650 authorizations for each application, petition, or request. |
| Five applications, petitions, or requests |
|
Submit 2 separate packages:
|
Source: USCIS “Pay with Automated Clearing House (ACH) Transaction by Mail,” September 10, 2025; American Immigration Lawyers Association ‘Practice Pointer: USCIS Transition to “Electronic Payments” and Implements ACH Debit Payment Option for Filing Fees.
Please contact Attorney Monique Kornfeld for representation for an immigration case filed with USCIS.