How Much Does a Green Card Cost in 2026?

The Short Answer

There is no single "green card fee." The total cost depends on the category of green card, whether you file inside or outside the U.S., whether you hire an attorney, and which additional services (like premium processing, when available) you choose. For a typical family-based case filed from inside the U.S. with adjustment of status, you should budget several thousand dollars in USCIS fees alone. Employment-based cases add PERM and I-140 costs that are usually paid by the employer. Investor cases are far more expensive because of the investment itself.

The most important thing to know is that USCIS fees change periodically. The figures in this article are for general orientation. Always check the current fee schedule at uscis.gov/fees before filing anything. Fees are set by regulation and can be adjusted without much notice.

The Main USCIS Forms and What They Are For

A green card usually involves several USCIS forms, each with its own filing fee:

• Form I-130 — Petition for Alien Relative. Filed by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to establish the family relationship with a foreign national. Used in family-based cases.
• Form I-140 — Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. Filed by the employer (or by the foreign national in self-petition categories like EB-1A and EB-2 NIW) to establish eligibility for an employment-based green card.
• Form I-485 — Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Filed inside the U.S. to convert nonimmigrant status into permanent resident status.
• Form DS-260 — Online immigrant visa application filed outside the U.S. through a National Visa Center and the U.S. embassy or consulate.
• Form I-864 — Affidavit of Support. Required in nearly all family-based cases to show the sponsor can financially support the immigrant.
• Form I-765 — Optional Employment Authorization Document while the I-485 is pending.
• Form I-131 — Optional Advance Parole for travel while the I-485 is pending.
• Form I-693 — Medical examination (no USCIS fee, but the civil surgeon charges a fee directly).

Family-Based Green Card: Typical Cost Components

For a family-based case filed from inside the U.S.:

• I-130 filing fee — paid to USCIS.
• I-485 filing fee — paid to USCIS when the applicant adjusts status inside the U.S. Biometrics fee may be included or separate depending on the current fee schedule.
• I-864 Affidavit of Support — no filing fee, but financial obligations for the sponsor.
• I-693 medical exam — fee paid directly to the civil surgeon; varies by clinic, typically a few hundred dollars.
• Vaccination costs if needed.
• Optional I-765 EAD and I-131 Advance Parole fees, if the applicant wants to work and travel while the I-485 is pending.
• Attorney fees if the applicant hires a licensed immigration attorney — these vary widely.

For consular processing (outside the U.S.) through the National Visa Center, the fees are different but comparable: an immigrant visa processing fee, an affidavit of support review fee, and the medical exam fee paid abroad.

Employment-Based Green Card: Employer Usually Pays the Lion's Share

For an EB-2 or EB-3 green card that goes through PERM labor certification, the employer is required by Department of Labor regulations to pay most of the PERM costs. These include recruitment advertising costs, the prevailing wage determination process, and legal fees related to the PERM application. The employer may also pay the I-140 filing fee, though the rules on who can pay differ between the PERM and I-140 stages.

Once the I-140 is approved and the priority date becomes current, the employee pays the I-485 filing fees (or consular processing fees if abroad), the medical exam, optional I-765 and I-131, and any personal legal fees.

For self-petition categories — EB-1A extraordinary ability and EB-2 NIW — the applicant typically pays the I-140 fee themselves because there is no employer sponsor.

EB-5 Investor Green Card: A Different Scale

The EB-5 investor green card is in a category of its own. The investment itself ranges from several hundred thousand dollars to more than a million depending on whether the investment is in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA). On top of the investment, there are USCIS filing fees (I-526E and I-829), project administration fees, and legal fees that often run well into five figures. EB-5 is the most expensive green card path by a wide margin.

Hidden Costs to Budget For

Beyond USCIS and attorney fees, applicants often underestimate:

• Translation costs for non-English documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearances).
• Police clearance certificates from every country where the applicant has lived.
• Travel costs for the embassy interview if consular processing is required.
• Medical exam fees and vaccinations. These vary by civil surgeon and location.
• Biometrics fees if charged separately under the current fee schedule.
• Premium processing for I-140 if available and desired.
• RFE or NOID responses — if USCIS issues a Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny, additional legal fees may be needed to respond.

Fee Waivers

Some applicants may qualify for a fee waiver using Form I-912 if they can demonstrate financial hardship. Fee waivers are not available for every form and every category, and USCIS reviews each request individually. The current fee waiver rules and eligibility criteria are at uscis.gov — they change periodically, and what was waivable a year ago may not be today. If finances are tight, it is worth checking the current rules carefully before giving up on a waiver request or before using a paid service to file.

One thing fee waivers do not cover: the cost of a private immigration attorney. If you need legal help and cannot afford it, non-profit legal aid organizations can sometimes assist eligible low-income applicants. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and similar groups maintain directories of pro bono resources.

The Bottom Line

A U.S. green card is not cheap. Family-based cases typically run several thousand dollars in USCIS fees plus medical exam, plus legal fees if you hire counsel. Employment-based cases shift much of the cost onto the sponsoring employer but still leave the applicant with I-485 stage costs. EB-5 is an entirely different financial universe. Before filing, pull the current fee schedule from uscis.gov/fees, make a realistic spreadsheet of every line item, and — for anything beyond the most routine case — budget for legal advice from a licensed U.S. immigration attorney.

When to Work with an Immigration Attorney

Not every immigration question needs a lawyer, but some do. The topics covered in this article include situations where a brief consultation with a licensed U.S. immigration attorney can save months of delay, prevent irreversible mistakes, and identify options you might not otherwise know about. Consider consulting an attorney if your case involves any of the following:

• Criminal history of any kind. Even dismissed charges, expunged records, or decades-old offenses can affect immigration outcomes. The immigration consequences of a criminal record are technical and fact-specific, and plea deals that seemed favorable in criminal court sometimes have devastating immigration consequences.
• Past immigration violations or denials. Prior visa denials, overstays, periods of unlawful presence, and prior removal proceedings all affect current options. An attorney can review your history and identify which paths remain open.
• Complicated family situations. Divorce, death of a petitioner, domestic abuse, and similar circumstances can trigger waiver eligibility or affect existing petitions in ways that require careful legal analysis.
• Business immigration matters. Employment-based cases, investor visas, and self-petitions are typically too complex for do-it-yourself filing. The evidentiary standards are demanding and the stakes are high.
• Cases that feel stuck. If your case has been sitting without action for a long time, or if you received an RFE or NOID you do not fully understand, an attorney can diagnose the problem and respond effectively.
• Anything you do not fully understand. Immigration forms are technical, and a small mistake can cascade into large consequences. When in doubt, ask someone qualified.

Finding Reliable Information

The single most reliable source of current U.S. immigration information is USCIS itself. USCIS publishes form instructions, fee schedules, processing times, policy manuals, and policy alerts at uscis.gov. When any article (including this one) references specific fees, processing times, or eligibility rules, the information can become outdated as USCIS updates its policies and fee schedules. Always verify any time-sensitive detail directly with USCIS before filing anything.

Other reliable primary sources include the U.S. Department of State (for visa bulletins and consular processing), the U.S. Department of Labor (for PERM and prevailing wage information), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (for admission and port of entry rules), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (for immigration court procedures).

Secondary sources — including practitioner guides, law school immigration clinics, and reputable nonprofit legal aid organizations — can provide helpful explanations of how the rules apply in practice. Community forums and social media should be treated with caution: they can point you to useful resources, but they also contain a great deal of inaccurate or outdated information, and the rules change frequently enough that what was true a year ago may not be true now.

Keeping Records

One of the simplest ways to protect yourself through any immigration process is to keep careful records of everything. Copies of every filing you send to USCIS, every notice you receive, every check or money order you submit, and every piece of correspondence you send or receive become critical evidence if something goes wrong later. Keep these records organized, dated, and backed up in at least two separate places (for example, a physical folder and a digital scan).

Also keep records of everything that supports your underlying eligibility — tax returns, marriage certificate, birth certificates, medical records, employment records, property records, school transcripts, and anything else that demonstrates ties to the United States, family relationships, or program eligibility. Good records are the backbone of a strong immigration case.