USCIS Form G-1651

G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment Alert Type info Alert: On March 25, 2025, Executive Order 14247, Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account , was signed, requiring electronic payment of all federal fees, except as specified in the executive order under Exceptions and Accommodations. Effective Oct. 28, 2025,we will only accept payments through Pay.gov for benefit requests filed electronically. For benefit requests mailed to USCIS, we will only accept ACH debit transactions using Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions , or credit, debit, and prepaid card payments using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions .

If you qualify for an exemption from the requirement to use an electronic payment method, you must mail your benefit request with the correct fee payment and a completed and signed Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment. To request an exemption, you must certify that electronic payment and collection methods are not possible and you meet 1 or more of the following requirements: You do not have access to banking services or electronic payment systems; Electronic disbursement would cause you undue hardship, as discussed in 31 C.F.R. Part 208; Non-electronic transactions are necessary or desirable for national security or law enforcement reasons; or There are other circumstances as determined by the secretary of the treasury, as reflected in regulations or other guidance. Forms and Document Downloads Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment (PDF, 953.05 KB) Form Details Edition Date Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format. If you complete and print this form to mail it, make sure that the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition.

If any of the form’s pages are missing or are from a different form edition, we may reject your form. If you need help downloading and printing forms, read our instructions . Where to File Complete Form G-1651 and place it on top of your completed benefit request, along with the correct fee payment (see Fee Schedule ). Mail your benefit request to the filing location listed in the “Where to File” section of the webpage for the form you are submitting.

When to File File Form G-1651 when you can certify you are exempt from the electronic payment requirement and want to pay your filing fees by mail or in person at a Field Office. To make your payment at a field office, you must make an appointment through the Contact Center. You must submit your Form G-1651 with your completed benefit request and payment. You cannot submit Form G-1651 separately either before or after you submit the associated benefit request.

If we approve your Form G-1651, we will process the paper-based payments that you submitted with your benefit request. Your benefit request is still subject to all other fee and benefit submission requirements. Filing Fee There is no fee to file Form G-1651. You can find the fees for USCIS forms by visiting our Fee Schedule page.

Form Filing Tips Filing Tips. Review our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to ensure we will accept your form. Completing the Form. For USCIS to approve your exemption request, the payer must sign Form G-1651 in the space provided for their signature.

We will reject any unsigned form. For more information on signatures, see the USCIS Policy Manual . For example, if you are filing … Submit: Multiple N-400 applications for different family members with different payers Only 1 Form G-1651 for each payer requesting an exemption We only need 1 Form G-1651 for each payer, even if they are paying for more than 1 application. However, you should send separate paper-based payments for each application.

Make sure the payer who is seeking an exemption completes and signs Form G-1651. One application, filed by an individual age 14 years or older One Form G-1651, signed by the payer requesting the exemption One petition, an adjustment of status application, and an application for employment authorization for the same applicant, all being paid by the same individual One Form G-1651, signed by the payer requesting the exemption Acceptable Forms of Payment. When you file with a properly completed Form G-1651, we will accept filing fee payments made with any of the following paper-based payment methods: Personal or business check; Money order; Bank draft; or Cashier’s check. Completing a Paper-Based Payment.

Provide the date when you are completing the check using U.S. date format: month/day/year (for example, you should write May 15, 2025, as 05/15/2025 or 5/15/25) or write the date out in full, as shown in the illustration. On the “Pay to the Order of” line, write “U.S. Department of Homeland Security” (not “USDHS” or “DHS”). Use numerals to show the exact dollar amount of your payment. In the example, the amount is “$760.00.” Spell out the exact dollar amount of the payment and write the “cents” portion of the amount as a fraction over 100.

In this example, the amount is “Seven hundred sixty and 00/100.” Write a brief description of the purpose of your payment. In this example, it is “N-400 application.” Include the applicant’s name on the memo line if it is not on the check itself (for example, if you are paying the fee for your child). Sign the check using your legal name. If your check is not dated within the previous 365 days, we will reject the filing.

When paying fees by check, please be aware of the following: Authorization for an Electronic Funds Transfer: By submitting your check, you authorize us to convert your check into an electronic fund transfer. We will use the account information from your check to make an electronic fund transfer from your checking account for the amount of the check. If the transfer cannot occur for technical reasons, you authorize us to process the copy of your original check through normal paper check procedures. Insufficient Funds: The electronic fund transfer from your account can occur faster than normal processing for a paper check.

If your check or other financial instrument is returned as unpayable due to insufficient funds, we will resubmit the payment 1 time. If it is returned as unpayable a second time, we will reject your filing. Multiple benefit requests. We recommend that you pay each filing fee separately for each application, petition or request you submit for the following reasons: When you provide a payment for a filing package that contains more than 1 application, we must reject the entire package if 1 of the applications is defective.

For example, if your filing package includes 2 Forms N-400, and 1 is missing a signature, we must reject both if you only provide 1 payment. However, if you provide a separate payment for each benefit request, we can accept the complete Form N-400 and reject the N-400 that is missing a signature We are changing some technology and may use different systems to process different requests and their fees. As a result, we may need to reject your entire package if you submit a single, combined payment for multiple forms. For example, even if Form I-539 and Form I-129 are submitted together, we may process them in different IT systems.

If both forms are paid with 1 combined payment, we may need to reject both forms. Related Links Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions Filing Fees Filing Guidance All Forms Five Steps to File at the USCIS Lockbox Tips for Filing Forms by Mail Last Reviewed/Updated: 06/03/2026