USCIS Will No Longer Accept Combined Fee Payments For EB-5, Immigrant Investor Program Petitions

The USCIS has announced that going forward they will no longer accept combined fee payment of Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor) or Form I-526E (Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor), filed with Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), Form I-131 (Application for Travel Document), or Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization by a petitioner). Combined fee payment for Forms I-485, I-131 and I-765 will be accepted, although a separate check payment for fees towards Form I-526 or I-526E must be sent and the failure to do so will force the USCIS to reject the form and reimburse the fee payment amount on account of improper fee payment.

Since requests for immigration benefits are currently being processed electronically by the USCIS, a different payment instrument is needed for each of the Form I-526 and I-526E petitions because they are not all handled through the same system. The USCIS understands that while this requirement may be rather inconvenient for the petitioners and applicants, the benefit of a computerized processing exceeds the drawbacks of submitting individual fee payments for the agency and the general public.