Filing Form I-130 costs $535 and it can be paid with a check or money order. No matter how you pay, the following two guidelines must be followed:
- The payment must come from a bank or financial institution in the United States and be payable in U.S. dollars.
- The payment must be made payable to: U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This must be spelled out and cannot be abbreviated.
Memo:
If you are paying by check, write the full name of the applicant in the memo line followed by the title of the form associated with the payment. For example, “Tom Smith, I-485“.
If you choose to pay by check, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will use your account information on the check to electronically take the money from your account. Typically, the debit will take 24 hours and will show up on your regular account statement.
Please note that you will not receive your original check back. Instead, it will be destroyed and the government will keep a copy of the check on file.