Green Card Cost Calculator

The price of reaching permanent residency in the United States is rarely a single tidy number, which is why estimating it ahead of time matters. Totals swing widely depending on which application path you take, how much legal help you retain, and the stack of administrative charges attached to your case. A worked estimate lets applicants budget realistically instead of being blindsided partway through.

Behind the total sit several distinct line items: mandatory government filing fees such as the USCIS I-130 and I-485, plus the cost of a required medical examination and an estimate for attorney services. The affidavit of support (Form I-864) filed with an adjustment of status has no USCIS fee; the State Department's $120 review fee applies only to immigrant-visa cases processed through the National Visa Center. Biometrics is no longer among them; the USCIS final fee rule effective April 1, 2024 bundled biometric services into the base filing fees and dropped the separate $85 charge. Costs are sorted into governmental and professional categories, so the output is a full picture rather than one flat figure with no breakdown. A U.S. citizen files a separate I-130 for each immediate relative (spouse, parent, unmarried child under 21), so the calculator charges one per applicant in that case and a single petition in preference categories, where a spouse and children ride on the principal's petition. Diversity visa winners also pay the State Department's $330 fee per person. Most adjustment applicants file for a work permit (Form I-765, $260) and a travel document (Form I-131, $630) alongside the I-485, which the April 2024 fee rule stopped including in the I-485 fee; switch them on to add $890 per person. The adult I-485 fee of $1,440 applies from age 14; the $950 child fee only to children under 14 filing with a parent.

Treat the legal portion as an approximation only, and ask any attorney for a detailed written quote before committing. Travel to interviews and medical exams adds expense that applicants routinely leave out of their planning. USCIS fees also shift over time, so confirm current amounts on the official agency website before relying on any estimate.