Effective November 3, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed that it will no longer accept paper checks or money orders for any fee-based application or petition. Payments must be made by credit or debit card (Form G-1450) or ACH debit from a U.S. bank account (Form G-1650), even when the underlying form is physically mailed.
USCIS says the move will reduce payment errors, speed reconciliation and cut costs tied to manual processing. For employers, the change requires coordination with corporate treasury teams to ensure ACH capabilities and sufficient daily transaction limits—particularly for volume H-1B, L-1 or adjustment filings that can trigger six-figure fee runs.
![USCIS ends paper checks: all immigration filing fees must now be paid electronically]()
Foreign entrepreneurs and new arrivals without U.S. accounts may face hurdles. Attorneys report initial rejections where fees were charged to international cards or ACH pulls failed because the remitter was overseas. Limited hardship exemptions (Form G-1651) exist but require advance approval and detailed evidence.
Practically, mobility programs should update filing checklists, budget for merchant-processor holds that can last several days, and remind beneficiaries that personal checks are no longer acceptable for OPT, STEM or other individual filings. Firms using outside counsel should verify that trust-account payment authorizations are in place to avoid last-minute delays.
USCIS says the move will reduce payment errors, speed reconciliation and cut costs tied to manual processing. For employers, the change requires coordination with corporate treasury teams to ensure ACH capabilities and sufficient daily transaction limits—particularly for volume H-1B, L-1 or adjustment filings that can trigger six-figure fee runs.
Foreign entrepreneurs and new arrivals without U.S. accounts may face hurdles. Attorneys report initial rejections where fees were charged to international cards or ACH pulls failed because the remitter was overseas. Limited hardship exemptions (Form G-1651) exist but require advance approval and detailed evidence.
Practically, mobility programs should update filing checklists, budget for merchant-processor holds that can last several days, and remind beneficiaries that personal checks are no longer acceptable for OPT, STEM or other individual filings. Firms using outside counsel should verify that trust-account payment authorizations are in place to avoid last-minute delays.
