Should You Use a Credit Card to Pay Your USCIS Fees?

Credit cards have made it easier to settle fees and make purchases. Almost every store or service accepts credit card payments, including USCIS. Immigration provides applicants with the option to pay their filing fees with their credit cards, requiring only that they fill out a credit card form.

However, not all types of immigration cases permit the use of a credit card form and this mode of payment may not be the best choice for time-sensitive cases.

Determine if Your Case Permits a Credit Card Form

Immigration permits the annexing of a credit card form on top of an immigration petition. Called the G-1450 Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, it provides immigration with the petitioner’s information, as well as billing information.

Not all types of immigration cases, however, permit the use of a credit card form. According to the Immigration Service, certain cases filed in certain places do not allow the G-1450 and hence, petitioners that are covered by the restriction can’t use their credit cards to pay their immigration fees.

Applicants can easily determine if their case permits a credit card form by going online, searching for their particular application, and checking the rules on credit card forms and payments.

Only Use a Credit Card for Non-Time-Sensitive Cases

While credit card payments are allowed in most immigration cases, the applicant should still inquire further and determine when it’s wise to do so. There have been many instances when credit card companies don’t recognize transactions initiated by the Immigration Service, flagging them as fraudulent charges and blocking the payment from being made.

When this happens, immigration will reject the case and return the files to the applicant. Then, they would have the recreate everything and mail the forms to immigration again. While this is no trouble for certain cases, like when a visa is available for a long time or the case was returned well before the expiration date, it becomes alarming when the case is time-sensitive.

When a visa is set to expire soon and the case was rejected due to the failure of a credit card payment, there might not be enough time for the applicant to initiate the whole process again. So when applying for visas like an I-94, it’s recommended that the payment be made by check or money order instead of a credit card.