How to pay filing fees for O-1, EB-1A, EB-2 NIW petitions at USCIS 2026: G-1450, G-1650, Asylum Fee
This guide is about EB-2 NIW. For EB-1A — separate analysis.
USCIS petition payment guide 2026: How to pay filing fees for I-129 (O-1), I-140 (EB-1A, EB-2 NIW). G-1450 credit card, G-1650 ACH debit. Money order discontinued October 2025. Asylum Program Fee. Pay.gov. Phoenix Lockbox payment processing.
How to pay the USCIS filing fee for form I-140 (EB-1A, EB-2 NIW) or I-129 (O-1). As of October 28, 2025 USCIS has fully stopped accepting checks and money orders for paper filings. Now only electronic payment: credit card via form G-1450 or ACH debit from a U.S. bank account via G-1650. Will USCIS retry a charge if the bank declined? How much is the Asylum Program Fee? Which method is more reliable? Answers below.
Contents
Information current as of publication (April 2026). USCIS rules and procedures may change. Links to fee pages and filing pages on the USCIS site may also change (over the last year some page addresses changed several times). Always verify current information at uscis.gov before filing.
Official USCIS pages:
- Filing Fees information page
- Addresses for filing O-1 (I-129)
- Addresses for filing EB-1, EB-2 NIW (I-140)
Critical change: as of October 28, 2025 USCIS no longer accepts checks and money orders
As of October 28, 2025 USCIS has completely stopped accepting checks and money orders for payment of all immigration fees for paper filings.
If you send a packet with a money order after that date, your entire package will be rejected and returned, as if you never filed it.
Consequences of sending a money order after 10/28/2025:
- Loss of priority date
- Missing important deadlines
- Possible loss of status in the U.S.
- Need to start the process again
Why USCIS changed the rules:
- 90% of payments were coming by check and money order
- Processing took 2–4 weeks
- 15% of rejections due to payment errors
- Checks were 16 times more likely to be lost or forged compared to electronic payments
Now USCIS accepts only two payment methods for paper filings:
Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. Print, complete, place on top of the packet.
Authorization for ACH Transactions. Complete and place on top of the packet. Only possible from U.S. bank accounts.
Card payment: form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions)
What is accepted:
- Credit and debit cards issued by U.S. banks
- U.S.-issued prepaid cards
- Foreign (non-U.S.-issued) cards are NOT accepted (this is stated directly in the G-1450 PDF)
Any exceptions? In 2024 there were isolated cases of successful payments using Kazakhstan bank cards, but that was likely a system glitch rather than a rule. USCIS's official position: the credit card must be issued by a U.S. bank.
Limits:
- Daily credit card limit: $24,999.99 per card per day (U.S. Treasury / Pay.gov rule)
- Exception for H-1B (online): up to $99,999.99 per card for online H-1B registrations/petitions. Does not apply to paper G-1450
How to fill out G-1450:
- Cardholder’s full name
- Billing address
- Card number, expiration date, CVV
- Signature
- Place the form on top of the paper packet (petition)
Important: A separate G-1450 for each fee/form. Do not combine different amounts on one form. Any card decline = full packet return; there will be no retry attempt.
ACH debit payment: form G-1650 (Authorization for ACH Transactions)
What it is: electronic debit (EFT/ACH) directly from your U.S. bank account (checking or savings).
What you need:
- Routing number (9 digits)
- Account number
- Sufficient balance in the account
Advantage of ACH over card:
Retry on insufficient funds: If an ACH payment is returned for insufficient funds, USCIS will make one retry attempt to debit. This is an important difference from cards, where no retry will be made.
But if the return is for any other reason (incorrect details, block, etc.) — the petition will be returned without a retry.
Why many choose ACH:
Lower chance of triggering anti-fraud filters compared to cards. The main thing is to ensure no ACH blocks at the bank and sufficient funds.
How to fill out G-1650: (USCIS guidance)
- Payor’s full name and address
- Routing number and account number (from a check or bank app)
- Mark account type (checking/savings)
- Sign and date
- Place on top of the packet
Online filings via myUSCIS (since February 2024)
Since February 2024 USCIS accepts online filing of form I-140 (including EB-1A and EB-2 NIW) via the myUSCIS portal. Payment is processed automatically through Pay.gov (card or ACH); forms G-1450 and G-1650 are not required.
Technical limitations:
- File size: up to 12 MB per document (increased from the initial 6 MB)
- Number of files: approximately 50–60 files total across all categories
- Formats: PDF (primary), JPEG, PNG. Word files are not accepted
- Receipt notice arrives within 1–3 days (instead of 2–4 weeks for paper filing)
Pros of online filing:
- Fast receipt notice and establishment of priority date
- No risk of documents being lost in the mail
- Can file I-907 (Premium Processing) simultaneously
Risks of online filing:
Loss of control over document presentation. With a paper filing an attorney can create a neatly organized petition with tabs, a cover letter, table of contents and logical exhibit structure. The online system forces you to upload documents into USCIS categories, and you lose the ability to craft the narrative.
Your document metadata is visible to USCIS. When you upload a PDF online, the officer can see: Author (who created the file), Creation/Modification date, Software (Word, Adobe, Google Docs), system language. If a recommendation letter “from a professor” was created by the applicant in Microsoft Word — this is visible in metadata. With paper filing documents go through printer and scanner — metadata is destroyed.
AI analysis of documents. With online filing USCIS receives clean, searchable PDFs. This allows automatic comparison of recommendation letters across petitions, checking citations via Google Scholar, finding template phrases and analyzing metadata.
If filing online — clean metadata. Adobe Acrobat Pro: File > Properties > clear all fields. Ideally: print recommendation letters, have them signed by hand, then scan. Then metadata will show the scanner, not Microsoft Word.
Comparison of payment methods
| Parameter | G-1450 (card) | G-1650 (ACH) |
|---|---|---|
| Reliability | Medium (possible antifraud declines) | High with correct account details |
| Speed of debit | 1–3 business days | 1–3 business days |
| Retry on failure | No | Yes, 1 time for insufficient funds |
| U.S. account required | No (U.S. prepaid possible) | Yes |
| Daily limit | $24,999.99 (exception: $99,999.99 for online H-1B) | No Pay.gov limit |
| Risk of bank blocking | Higher (anti-fraud, limits) | Lower (but check ACH blocks) |
Asylum Program Fee: what it is and why you pay it (since April 2024)
Since April 2024 USCIS introduced an additional Asylum Program Fee. This fee is added to almost all petitions, including I-129 (O-1) and I-140 (EB-1A, EB-2 NIW).
Where this fee came from and why applicants for employment visas pay it:
USCIS is one of the rare federal agencies that is funded almost entirely by applicant fees rather than the U.S. budget. At the same time, processing asylum applications is a huge workload that asylum seekers do not pay for by law. Until 2024 USCIS covered this workload from general fees, which led to delays across ALL other categories (including EB-1A, O-1, H-1B). Essentially, your EB-1A petition was processed slower because USCIS resources were diverted to asylum cases.
In 2024 USCIS addressed this by introducing a separate Asylum Program Fee ($300–600) for employment and immigration petitions. USCIS’s logic: “you pay a separate asylum fee, and with that we hire additional officers and speed up processing of YOUR cases.”
Do applicants like this? No. But these are the current rules. If you do not include this payment — your packet will be returned without consideration.
How much to pay:
| Petitioner type | Question 5 (Part 1, I-140) | Question 6 (Part 1, I-140) | Asylum Fee | I-140 fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-profit organization | Yes | Yes or No | $0 | $715 | $715 |
| Small employer (25 or fewer employees) | No | Yes | $300 | $715 | $1,015 |
| Self-petitioner | No | Yes | $300 | $715 | $1,015 |
| Other petitioners (more than 25 employees) | No | No | $600 | $715 | $1,315 |
The table is a translation of the original table from the USCIS site. It explains how to correctly determine the Asylum Program Fee amount depending on the petitioner’s status. It is important to answer Questions 5 and 6 in Part 1 of form I-140 correctly.
Do not forget the Asylum Program Fee! If you do not include this payment, your case will be returned without consideration. The I-140 fee ($715) and the Asylum Program Fee must be paid separately (a separate G-1450 or G-1650 for each).
Small employer: If your petitioner has 25 or fewer employees, they should select “Yes” on Question 6 (Part 1, I-140), which results in paying $300 instead of $600.
Self-petitioner: If you file I-140 yourself (EB-1A) without an employer and you have fewer than 25 employees or no employees, you also pay $300.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Always verify current fees on the Filing Fees page before filing.
Do not “combine” multiple fees on one G-1450. A separate form for each payment: I-140 = $715, I-907 = $2,965, Asylum Fee = $300/$600.
You cannot pay part by card and part by ACH for a single filing. Choose one method per form.
Contact the bank in advance to remove possible debit blocks for payments to USCIS/Pay.gov.
$24,999.99/day per credit card. For large amounts use ACH.
FAQ
Can I pay for a relative/client?
Yes. The payer can be a third party: the owner of a U.S. card (G-1450) or a U.S. bank account (G-1650). It is important that the payment instrument meets requirements (card issued by a U.S. bank, account at a U.S. bank).
The bank declined the card charge (fraud decline). Will USCIS try again?
This depends on the payment method — and this is the key difference between G-1450 (card) and G-1650 (ACH):
G-1450 (card): USCIS does NOT retry the charge. If the card is declined for any reason (fraud alert, limit, incorrect data) — the packet is returned. Even if you call the bank and remove the block within 5 minutes — it’s too late. There will be no retry.
G-1650 (ACH): USCIS makes ONE retry, but only if the reason for the return was insufficient funds. If the return was for another reason (incorrect details, ACH block) — they return the packet without retry.
This is one of the main reasons many choose ACH over card: card anti-fraud systems are unpredictable, while ACH at least gives one chance to retry.
Practical tip: If paying by card — 1–2 days before sending the packet call your bank and ask them to mark the transaction as “authorized transaction to USCIS / Pay.gov” on your account. Mention an approximate amount. This is not a guarantee but reduces the risk of a fraud decline.
If the card is declined (declined)?
USCIS will return the petition or packet of documents. You will need to refile with valid payment. There will be no retry. This is a fundamental difference from ACH (G-1650), where one retry is allowed for insufficient funds.
Can multiple filings be paid with a single payment?
No. Make a separate payment and a separate G-1450/G-1650 for each fee/form.
Is it safe to provide card details?
Payment is processed via Pay.gov (U.S. Treasury), with federal-level encryption and security.
How much is Premium Processing (I-907)?
$2,965 for I-140 (EB-1A, EB-2 NIW). Paid with a separate G-1450 or G-1650. This is in addition to the I-140 fee ($715) and the Asylum Fee.
Official USCIS links
- Filing Fees information page
- Form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions)
- Form G-1650 (Authorization for ACH Transactions)
- Addresses for filing I-129 (O-1)
- Addresses for filing I-140 (EB-1A, EB-2 NIW)
- Form I-907 (Premium Processing)