I-485 Filing Fees in 2026: The Complete Cost Breakdown

The I-485 fee looks like one number until you factor in biometrics, dependents, and the forms USCIS bundles in for free.

You've reached the point in your green card process where the paperwork stops being research and starts costing real money. Form I-485, the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, is usually the single largest USCIS fee you'll pay out of your own pocket, and getting the number wrong — or assuming it still works the old way — is an easy way to have a filing bounced back.

Here's the number: as of 2026, Form I-485 costs $1,440 if you file by mail or $1,390 if you file online, for any applicant age 14 or older. A child under 14 filing with a parent pays $950. That figure already includes biometrics — there's no separate charge to add. If you're filing Form I-765 (work permit) or Form I-131 (travel document) alongside it, both ride along at no extra cost. The rest of this breaks down exactly where that money goes, what it doesn't cover, and where people usually get the budget wrong.

What Form I-485 actually costs in 2026

That's the entire I-485 fee schedule. There's no separate line item for biometrics, no reduced-fee tier for a child filing alone, and no sliding scale by category — EB-2, EB-3, family-based, or otherwise. Everyone in the same age bracket pays the same base amount.

The $50 difference between mail and online filing isn't a discount so much as USCIS nudging applicants toward its online account system, where the agency can track a case and issue notices faster. If your attorney or team is handling a paper filing for you, budget for $1,440; if you're filing yourself through a USCIS online account, it's $1,390.

Why there's no separate biometrics fee anymore

If you've read an older guide, a forum post from a few years back, or even talked to someone who filed their own I-485 before 2024, you may have heard about an $85 biometrics services fee tacked onto the base filing fee. That charge is gone. Under the USCIS fee rule that took effect April 1, 2024, biometrics collection got folded directly into the base I-485 fee instead of being billed separately.

Practically, this means two things:

1. You do not calculate $1,440 (or $1,390) plus $85. The $1,440/$1,390 figure is the whole fee.
2. You still have to attend a biometrics appointment when USCIS schedules one — the process of collecting fingerprints, photo, and signature hasn't disappeared, only the separate line-item charge for it has.

The same 2024 rule also eliminated the old reduced rate for children under 14 that used to be $750 plus a biometrics charge. That combination is gone; $950 flat is the current number for a child filing with a parent, biometrics included.

Filing your work permit and travel document alongside I-485

Most applicants don't file the I-485 alone. While your adjustment of status case is pending, you're generally allowed to apply for:

• Form I-765 — an Employment Authorization Document, so you can work while the I-485 is pending
• Form I-131 — Advance Parole, a travel document that lets you leave and re-enter the US without abandoning your pending application

Filing either of these concurrently with your I-485 carries no separate fee. You still fill out each form completely, gather its own supporting documents, and submit it as part of the same package — but you're not writing an additional check for I-765 or I-131 processing when they're bundled with the adjustment of status application.

This is one of the more overlooked parts of I-485 budgeting: people sometimes assume the work permit or travel document costs extra on top of the $1,440/$1,390, and pad their filing fee accordingly. It doesn't. The place your money actually needs to stretch further is everywhere else in the case — which is the next section.

What the I-485 filing fee doesn't cover

The I-485 fee covers exactly the I-485 (and, as noted, a concurrent I-765/I-131). It does not cover:

• Form I-140, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker that typically precedes or accompanies an employment-based I-485. That form has its own base fee, currently $715, plus an Asylum Program Fee that applies to nearly every I-140 filer. See our breakdown of the I-140 base fee for how that number is structured.
• The required medical exam (Form I-693), performed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. This isn't a USCIS fee at all — it's a payment to the civil surgeon's office, and the amount varies by provider. It's also one of the more common reasons an I-485 gets rejected or delayed when it's missing, expired, or incomplete; our guide to the I-693 medical exam and I-485 rejections covers what USCIS actually checks for.
• Attorney fees, if you're using immigration counsel, which most employment-based applicants do given how much can go wrong in a single filing.
• Translation costs for any foreign-language documents in your evidence package.
• Passport photos, certified copies of civil documents, and courier or mailing costs for the physical package itself.

Add all of that up against the base filing fee and the real number for a full adjustment of status case looks very different from $1,440. We go through that full stack — I-140, I-485, medical exam, attorney costs, and the rest — in our guide on what adjustment of status actually costs beyond the filing fee, and our broader USCIS fee schedule roundup puts the I-485 number next to every other H-1B and green card fee you're likely to encounter along the way.

Some applicants — certain humanitarian categories, for example — may qualify for a reduced fee or a fee waiver through Form I-912. Eligibility for a waiver is specific to your category and situation, so that's a question for your immigration attorney rather than something to assume based on a blog post.

Premium processing isn't an option for the I-485

If you've used premium processing for an I-140 or an H-1B petition, it's tempting to look for the same option here. There isn't one. Premium processing is not available for Form I-485. There is no fee you can pay to guarantee a faster decision on the adjustment of status application itself, regardless of how much money you're willing to spend.

This matters for planning: I-485 processing time varies sharply by service center, field office, and category — broadly in a range of roughly 9 to over 40 months as of 2026 — and unlike the I-140, there's no lever to pull that shortens it. If your case involves a concurrently filed I-140, that petition can be premium processed on its own for a faster decision on the underlying petition, but that speed doesn't carry over to the I-485 sitting behind it.

Where the fee fits in your filing timeline

A typical employment-based adjustment of status filing runs through these stages, and the I-485 fee is paid at a specific point in that sequence:

1. PERM labor certification is approved by the Department of Labor (employment-based categories only — this step doesn't apply to every I-485 filer).
2. Form I-140 is filed and, ideally, approved — this is where the $715 base fee and Asylum Program Fee are paid.
3. Your priority date becomes current under the relevant month's Visa Bulletin, which determines whether you're eligible to file the I-485 yet.
4. Form I-485 is filed, along with any concurrent I-765 and I-131 — this is where the $1,440 (mail) or $1,390 (online) fee, or $950 for a qualifying child, is paid.
5. Biometrics appointment, already covered by the I-485 fee, is scheduled and attended.
6. The case is adjudicated, on USCIS's own timeline since premium processing isn't available for this step.

Knowing where the fee falls in that sequence matters because it's easy to assume the I-485 fee is a one-time, isolated cost. It's really the second-largest checkpoint in a chain of fees that starts with the I-140 and often ends with attorney costs that outlast every government filing fee combined.

If your case involves a job change while I-485 is pending

Some applicants change employers, get promoted into a materially different role, or otherwise need to invoke job portability under AC21 while their I-485 is still pending. That process — including the Supplement J form used to document the new or changed job — doesn't come with its own separate I-485 filing fee, but it has its own timing rules and evidentiary requirements that are easy to get wrong. Our guide to I-485 Supplement J and AC21 portability walks through how that process works if it applies to you.

Common mistakes

• Adding $85 for biometrics on top of the base fee. That charge was eliminated in the April 2024 fee rule. The $1,440/$1,390 number is the complete I-485 fee.
• Budgeting the I-485 fee as the total cost of adjustment of status. It's one line item among several — the I-140, medical exam, attorney fees, and document costs are all separate and usually add up to far more than the I-485 fee alone.
• Assuming a faster payment gets a faster decision. There is no premium processing option for the I-485. Paying more does not buy speed at this step.
• Filing under the old under-14 fee structure. The $750-plus-biometrics rate for children is gone; it's a flat $950 now, biometrics included.
• Treating I-765 and I-131 as separate line items when filed concurrently. They're free to file alongside the I-485 — don't pad your total by pricing them in as if they carried their own fee.
• Using a stale fee amount from an older article. USCIS fee schedules change, and this one changed substantially in April 2024. Always cross-check the current amount on USCIS.gov before you write a check or submit an online payment.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the I-485 filing fee in 2026? $1,440 if you file by mail or $1,390 if you file through your USCIS online account, for any applicant age 14 or older. A child under 14 filing together with a parent pays $950. There is no additional biometrics charge on top of either number.

Do I still have to pay a separate biometrics fee for I-485? No. USCIS folded the biometrics services fee into the base I-485 fee under the fee rule that took effect April 1, 2024. Older guides that list an $85 biometrics charge on top of the filing fee are describing the pre-2024 fee structure, which no longer applies.

How much does a child under 14 pay to file Form I-485? $950, as long as the child is filing together with at least one parent who is also filing or has a pending or approved I-485. The older reduced rate of $750 plus a separate biometrics fee was eliminated in the 2024 fee rule, so $950 is the current flat number regardless of biometrics.

Can I file my work permit and travel document with my I-485 for free? Yes. Filing Form I-765 for a work permit and Form I-131 for a travel document at the same time as your I-485 carries no separate fee for either form. You still complete each form fully and submit it as part of the same filing package.

Is premium processing available for the I-485? No. Premium processing does not exist as an option for Form I-485 itself. It is available for certain I-140 immigrant petitions, which is a separate form and a separate fee, but there is no way to pay for expedited handling of the adjustment of status application.

Fees and rules around adjustment of status shift often enough that it's worth double-checking the current amount on USCIS.gov before you file, and looping in an immigration attorney for anything specific to your category or timeline. If you want a second set of eyes on where you stand in your own green card process, F1Jobs is a good place to start the conversation.