The cost of a green card depends on three things: which category you qualify under, whether you adjust status inside the United States or process through a consulate abroad, and whether you are filing with a spouse or children.
For a single adult adjusting status inside the United States with work and travel authorization, filed on or after April 1, 2024, the real total is US$2,330.
This guide breaks that number down by category, filing route, and household size, so you can know the price for your situation.
Your total cost also depends on which petition your green card relies on. A family member files Form I-130, while an employer, or you, if you self-petition, files Form I-140.
Both lead to the same $2,330 adjustment-of-status fee mentioned above. The main differences are the petition fee itself and, for employment-based cases, an extra petition-stage fee.
Form I-130 is not eligible for a fee waiver or premium processing. Form I-864, the Affidavit of Support, a sponsoring relative file, has no separate USCIS fee.
USCIS treats an individual self-petitioner as a small employer for the Asylum Program Fee. That means an EB-2 NIW or EB-1A self-petition pays US$300, not US$0. Having no employees reduces the fee. It does not remove it.
Consular processing costs roughly a fifth of adjustment of status. It requires an interview at a consulate in your home country, and it does not give you a U.S. work permit or travel document while your case is pending, as a concurrently filed I-485 does.
Beyond Border focuses on self-petition options like EB-2 NIW and EB-1A, as well as general EB-1 petitions for employer-sponsored cases.
With self-petitions like EB-2 NIW and EB-1A, there's no sponsoring employer, no labor certification, and no added employer legal fees on top of the government costs.
Our team can review your profile against the criteria for EB-2 NIW, EB-1A, and EB-1 to help you understand which category fits your situation and what your total costs will look like. Request a case assessment today to see where you stand.
You can request a fee waiver using Form I-912, but only in rare cases, such as for asylees adjusting status. Standard family-based or employment-based green cards don't qualify, and fees for Form I-130 or Form I-140 cannot be waived.
It changes who pays, not what is owed. Labor certification costs, including the employer’s own attorney fees, are the employer’s legal responsibility and cannot be passed to you. The worker’s own I-485, I-765, and I-131 fees are more often a matter of negotiation between employer and employee. None of this applies to a self-petition, where there is no employer to negotiate with in the first place.
Yes, by a wide margin. It requires an in-person interview abroad and does not provide interim U.S. work authorization or travel permission the way a pending adjustment of status filing does, which is why most applicants already living and working in the United States choose adjustment despite the higher cost.
The government filing fees are close to identical. The difference is the additional fee. An employer-sponsored case typically adds labor certification and employer legal costs; a self-petition does not, because there is no employer or labor certification step involved.
No. USCIS filing fees are not refundable, whether your case is approved or denied.
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