In this post, we highlight the total costs associated with the EB-2 green card, including the filing fees, optional premium processing costs, who pays for what (employer vs employee, and answer frequently asked questions.
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EB-2 Green Card Cost
The EB-2 green card fees depend on whether you are applying from within the United States or abroad:
Filing From Within the United States
- I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers Filing Fee: $715. This must be paid by the employer, unless the applicant is self-petitioning with a National Interest Waiver
- I-485 filing fee: $1,440. This is paid by the EB-2 beneficiary
- Optional premium processing fee: $2,965. This optional service will reduce your I-140 processing time from about six months to 15 business days. For business reasons, it must be paid by the employer. However, if it is for personal reasons of the beneficiary, the beneficiary may pay the premium processing fee.
Filing From Abroad
- I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers Filing Fee: $715. This must be paid by the employer.
- DS-260 filing Fee: $345
- Immigrant Fee: $235. Paid to USCIS to produce your green card. USCIS states it should be paid after you pick up your immigrant visa from the Department of State, but before departing for the United States.
- Optional premium processing fee: $2,965. This optional service will reduce your I-140 processing time from about six months to 15 business days. For business reasons, it must be paid by the employer. However, if it is for personal reasons of the beneficiary, the beneficiary may pay the premium processing fee.
- Traveling fees: to visit your local consulate or embassy
VisaNation Tip
The I-140 fee and all costs associated with PERM Labor Certification must be paid by your employer. However, the I-485 and DS-260 fees are typically paid by the visa beneficiary.
Additionally, an affadavit of support fee is generally not required unless a relative filed the I-140 petition for you or a relative owns 5% or more of the company that is sponsoring you.
EB-2 NIW Costs
The EB-2 NIW has similar costs to the standalone EB-2. However, in addition to the above costs, you must also pay the asylum fee, which is $300 for businesses with fewer than 25 employees, or 600 for those with more than 25 employees.
Most EB-2 applicants who are self-petitioning will be paying USCIS $715 and $300 for a total of $1,015 for the I-140 petition.
EB-2 Attorney Fees:
Attorney fees for the EB-2 vary widely from attorney to attorney, and costs are more expensive if filing as a self-petitioning applicant with a National Interest Waiver (NIW) due to increased complexity. You can see the flat fee we charge for our services on our fees page.
Can I Get a Refund?
Unfortunately, even if your petition is denied or rejected, your EB-2 green card costs will not be returned. However, there are a few circumstances in which the USCIS is obligated to issue a refund. You should expect to get your payment back if the USCIS:
- Asked for a form that was not necessary and required a fee.
- Has requested a fee that was greater than that which was appropriate
- Was not able to process the petition in 15 business days after the premium processing fee was paid. Note that you will only receive a refund of the premium processing fee in this case and not the I-140 filing fee.