What does the I-485 filing fee cost?

The number, and where it comes from

Adjustment of status is the step where a person already inside the United States asks to become a lawful permanent resident, and the I-485 fee is the single largest line in most family and employment green card budgets. The federal rule that sets it is 8 CFR 106.2(a)(21). In the eCFR text current at the October 14, 2026 issue date, it reads $1,440 for an applicant 14 years of age or older and $950 for an applicant under 14 who submits the application concurrently with a parent's I-485.

The second source is the schedule USCIS publishes as Form G-1055. The edition I read on November 2, 2026 is dated 10/26/26. For the general I-485 row it prints $1,440 for a paper filing and $1,390 online, and for the under-14 row $950 on paper and $900 online. The $50 gap is the online filing discount that 8 CFR 106.1(g) describes, and the two sources do not disagree: the regulation prints the base fee, the schedule prints what each filing method pays.

Who pays nothing

The regulation names two no-fee cases in the I-485 paragraph itself: an applicant in removal, deportation or exclusion proceedings before an immigration judge when the court waives the fee, and a person who served honorably on active duty in the U.S. armed forces and files under INA 101(a)(27)(K). The schedule prints a longer list of $0 rows, because other parts of the fee rule create exemptions. Section 106.3(b) exempts refugees, Special Immigrant Juveniles, T and U nonimmigrants adjusting under their own sections, certain Afghan and Iraqi special immigrants, and abused spouses and children under the Cuban Adjustment Act and the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act. The schedule also lists VAWA self-petitioners at $0.

An exemption is not eligibility. The schedule says so directly: fee-exempt rows only show that the form is free to file, not that the person qualifies to file it. Read the form instructions for the category before you rely on a $0.

The fee waiver rule is narrower than people expect

A fee waiver is a separate route from an exemption. For this form it has a condition. Under 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3)(iv), the I-485 fee may be waived only if the person is exempt from the public charge ground of inadmissibility in INA 212(a)(4). The general waiver tests in 106.3(a)(1), a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or extreme financial hardship, do not on their own unlock a waiver of this particular fee. The schedule's I-485 table ends with a line that certain applicants may be eligible for a waiver and points to the I-912 instructions.

Charges that travel with the I-485

The I-485 is rarely filed alone, and the companion fees move independently. Supplement A, used by people adjusting under INA 245(i), carries a $1,000 sum in both sources, with no fee for an unmarried child under 17 and for certain family unity spouses and children. Form I-485J, the job offer confirmation or portability form, is $0. A work permit filed with a pending I-485 has its own rate, discussed on the I-765 page in this set, and so does an advance parole travel document under the I-131 entry.

The I-485 rows I read in the schedule print no additional line under Public Law 119-21, the 2025 law that added new fees to several other forms. That could change with a future edition, which is why every figure on this page carries its read date.

A worked example

A married couple files together, both 30. Each adult is an applicant 14 or older, so the base fee in the regulation is $1,440 each. If both file online and the form is eligible for online filing, the schedule row for online filing prints $1,390 each, which is $2,780 for the two. If they file on paper, it is $2,880. Their 12-year-old, filing with one parent's I-485, pays the under-14 rate: $950 on paper or $900 online. Use the calculator above to read any row without doing the arithmetic, then confirm the total in the official USCIS fee calculator before you pay.

Before you pay

Fees in this area changed repeatedly across 2024, 2025 and 2026, so treat any copied number, including this page, as stale the moment the schedule gets a new edition. The page states the edition and the date it was read so you can see whether a newer edition exists. If the fee is wrong at filing, USCIS says the application will be rejected. Pay by the method the instructions require for the form, and keep the receipt.

Sources

• eCFR, 8 CFR § 106.2 USCIS fees (title 8, issue date October 14, 2026; eCFR up to date as of October 29, 2026). Read November 2, 2026.
• eCFR, 8 CFR § 106.1 Definitions and online discount (title 8, issue date October 14, 2026; eCFR up to date as of October 29, 2026). Read November 2, 2026.
• USCIS Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 10/26/26, and the G-1055 PDF. Read November 2, 2026.

Editions read: eCFR title 8 as of the October 14, 2026 issue date, and Form G-1055 edition 10/26/26. Both were read on November 2, 2026. Fees in this area changed repeatedly in 2024, 2025 and 2026; where the two sources differ, this page says so and does not choose between them. If you need to rely on an amount, confirm it with the official USCIS fee calculator on the day you file, and talk to an immigration attorney or accredited representative about your own case.