How to Pay the SEVIS I-901 Fee, Step by Step

Before your visa interview or port of entry, you must pay the SEVIS I-901 fee correctly on the official portal, or risk a delay that has nothing to do with your qualifications.

You've got a signed Form I-20 or DS-2019 in hand, a visa interview slot booked or coming up, and one more piece of paperwork standing between you and boarding a flight to the US — the SEVIS I-901 fee. It's a payment made directly to the government, separate from any visa application fee, and if you get the details wrong a consular officer can send you home without a stamp.

Here's the direct answer: you pay the SEVIS I-901 fee online at the official government portal, fmjfee.com, using the SEVIS ID and school or program information printed on your I-20 or DS-2019, and you do it before you attend your visa interview or seek entry at a US port of entry. You can pay by card online, by mail with a check or money order, or in some countries through a Western Union Quick Pay location. Below is the exact process, a comparison of the payment methods, and the mistakes that cause the most delays.

What the SEVIS I-901 fee actually is

SEVIS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, the database that tracks every F, M, and J nonimmigrant on a US school or exchange program. It's run by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which sits inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The I-901 fee funds that tracking system, and the payment of the SEVIS fee is what activates your specific SEVIS record before a consular officer or Customs and Border Protection officer will treat it as current.

This fee is completely separate from the visa application fee (sometimes called the MRV fee) you pay when you schedule your DS-160 visa interview, and it's separate from any tuition deposit your school collects. Missing either one causes a different kind of problem, and paying one does not substitute for the other.

Who has to make the sevis fee payment depends on your document:

• F-1 and M-1 students pay it against the SEVIS ID on their Form I-20.
• J-1 exchange visitors pay it against the SEVIS ID on their DS-2019, though for some exchange visitor programs the sponsor organization pays it on the participant's behalf. Check with your program sponsor before assuming you need to pay it yourself.

Anyone can complete the actual transaction — a parent, a sponsor, a friend — as long as they enter your SEVIS ID and personal details correctly. The government doesn't check who owns the card.

Before you start, gather these three things

1. Your signed Form I-20 or DS-2019. You cannot pay without the document in front of you.
2. Your SEVIS ID. It starts with the letter N followed by ten digits and is printed near the top of your I-20 or in the upper right of your DS-2019. If you can't locate it, see our guide on what a SEVIS ID number is and where to find it before you try to pay.
3. Your school code or program number. For F-1/M-1 students, this is your school's SEVP-assigned code, printed directly under your SEVIS ID on the I-20.

How to pay the SEVIS fee, step by step

1. Go directly to fmjfee.com. Type the address yourself rather than clicking a search ad or a link from an unfamiliar email — copycat sites exist and add unnecessary charges on top of the real fee.
2. Select Form I-901 and choose your correct category: F-1, M-1, or the specific J-1 program type shown on your DS-2019.
3. Enter your SEVIS ID, name, and date of birth exactly as they appear on your I-20 or DS-2019. A mismatch — even a middle name left off — can cause the payment to fail to match your record later.
4. Confirm your school or sponsor's code so the payment attaches to the right institution.
5. Choose your payment method — card online, or check/money order by mail, or Western Union Quick Pay if it's offered in your country (see the comparison below).
6. Submit the payment and immediately download or print the confirmation receipt. This is your proof of payment of the SEVIS fee, and you'll need it more than once.
7. Give it time to register before you rely on it. SEVIS payment records typically take several business days to sync into the system a consular officer or CBP officer checks. Pay as soon as you have your document, not the night before your interview.

Payment methods compared

When you actually need to pay it, and when you don't

This is where most of the confusion happens, and it's genuinely record-specific rather than a blanket rule.

You need to pay for any new SEVIS record — a first-time F-1 or M-1 student starting a program, a new J-1 exchange visitor, or anyone whose school or sponsor issues them a brand-new SEVIS ID.

You generally do not need to pay again for:

• A standard SEVIS transfer to another school, since your existing SEVIS ID carries over rather than being replaced
• A program extension on the same SEVIS record
• Moving from OPT into STEM OPT, which uses your same underlying SEVIS record

You generally do need to pay again for:

• Reinstatement after a status violation, since SEVP typically issues a new SEVIS ID
• Certain gaps that require your school to issue a brand-new initial-attendance I-20 rather than continuing your old record

The line between "your record continues" and "you have a new SEVIS record" isn't always obvious from the paperwork alone, and paying (or not paying) incorrectly can leave you without proof of payment at your interview. This is a question about your specific SEVIS record, not a legal question, so it belongs with your DSO — they're the one who can actually see your record status and tell you definitively whether a new payment applies to you. You can also check your SEVIS status directly to see whether your record shows as active before you assume anything.

The SEVIS fee is not your only immigration payment

Paying for the SEVIS fee is only the first of several government payments you'll likely make over the course of your F-1 journey. When you eventually apply for Optional Practical Training, you'll pay a separate USCIS filing fee — our OPT fee planning guide walks through what changed and how to budget for it. If you extend into STEM OPT later, that's another distinct filing fee covered in our STEM OPT application fee breakdown. None of these later fees replace or reduce the I-901 fee you pay now — they're each tied to a different form, at a different stage.

After you've paid the SEVIS fee, the next major step in the visa process is completing your DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application before your interview. Our step-by-step DS-160 walkthrough covers what that form asks for and how to avoid the errors that trip up first-time applicants.

What to expect after you pay

Once your payment clears, fmjfee.com generates an official receipt — the Form I-901 payment confirmation. Print it and keep both a physical and digital copy. You'll want it in two moments:

1. At your visa interview, where the consular officer typically verifies payment electronically through SEVIS but may ask to see your printed receipt if the system hasn't synced yet.
2. At your US port of entry, where a CBP officer can ask for the same document alongside your I-20 or DS-2019 and visa stamp.

Keep the receipt with your other immigration documents for as long as you're on that SEVIS record — you may need it again for a later status action.

Common mistakes

• Paying on an unofficial or lookalike site. Only fmjfee.com is the real government portal. Third-party "visa fee assistance" sites that surface in search results often add a markup for doing nothing more than forwarding your payment.
• Using an old SEVIS ID from a previous I-20. If your school reissued your I-20 for any reason, double-check the SEVIS ID is the current one before you pay.
• Waiting until the day before your interview. SEVIS payment records need time to sync. Pay as soon as your document is in hand.
• Selecting the wrong category. F-1/M-1 and the various J-1 program types are not necessarily charged the same amount, and picking the wrong one on the payment form can cause your payment to be flagged as incomplete.
• Assuming a transfer always needs a new payment, or assuming it never does. Both mistakes happen. Confirm with your DSO rather than guessing.
• Losing the receipt. You'll need it more than once, and re-verifying an old payment through SEVIS support takes far longer than saving a PDF the first time.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the SEVIS I-901 fee? The exact amount depends on your visa category (F-1, M-1, or your specific J-1 program type), and DHS has changed the fee before, so treat any number you see repeated online as unverified until you confirm it yourself. Select your exact category on fmjfee.com before you pay, or check the fee your school or sponsor listed in the remarks on your I-20 or DS-2019.

Where do I pay the SEVIS fee? Pay only at fmjfee.com, the official payment site run by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a division of ICE. Lookalike third-party sites sometimes charge extra on top of the real fee, so type the address in directly rather than clicking an unfamiliar link.

When do I need to pay the SEVIS fee? You generally pay it once, before your visa interview or before seeking entry at a US port of entry, tied to a new SEVIS record on a new I-20 or DS-2019. Most transfers and extensions keep your existing SEVIS ID and don't require a new payment, but a reinstatement or new initial-attendance record usually does — ask your DSO to confirm which applies to you.

How long before my visa interview should I pay the SEVIS fee? Pay it as soon as you have your signed I-20 or DS-2019, well before you schedule or attend your interview. Give the payment several business days to register in SEVIS, and carry your printed receipt as backup in case the record hasn't synced yet.

Do I need to pay the SEVIS fee again after a transfer or reinstatement? A standard transfer between schools usually keeps your same SEVIS ID and doesn't require a new fee. A reinstatement, or any case where SEVP issues you a brand-new SEVIS ID, generally does require a new payment — your DSO can confirm which situation applies to you.

Getting the paperwork right is the unglamorous part of the F-1 journey, but it's the part that keeps everything else on track. Once your visa is in hand and you're building toward OPT, a job search, and eventual sponsorship, F1Jobs helps international students and professionals navigate the parts of the process that come next.