Naturalization applicants seeking to become U.S. citizens but not eligible for a fee waiver are now able to use their credit card to pay the Immigration filing and biometric fee for their Form N-400, Application for Naturalization Specifically, which is a total of $680.
This is a combination of the Immigration filing fee of $595 and the biometric service fee of $85.
To pay using a credit card, Naturalization applicants are required to complete Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transaction, which is to be placed on top of the N-400 application for naturalization and mailed to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services-USCIS.
Furthermore, no additional fee applies when using a credit card. As a result, applicants can pay without incurring extra charges.
Currently, applicants can only pay for the N-400 Naturalization application by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transaction.
Acceptable Credit Cards
Applicants for Naturalization may pay their Immigration filing fee together with the biometric Service fee by using the following types of credit card:
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express
- Discover
- Gift cards with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover logos.
After USCIS receives a properly completed naturalization application package, it charges the immigration fee and biometric service fee, which appear on the applicant’s credit card statement as ‘USCIS N400 Paym.’ USCIS destroys Form G-1450 after completing the payment processing.
Multiple/Combined Payments
Applicants must pay the immigration filing and biometric service fees for each application using a single payment method.
Therefore, USCIS does not accept the following combined payment methods.
- Split payment (paying by check and credit card) for the same application.
- Mixture of money orders, checks, and credit card authorizations together for multiple applications.
Applicants must use a single card to pay the entire amount for an application.
Security of Credit Card Payment
USCIS will use the Department of Treasury Pay.gov Collections Control Panel (CCP) service to process credit card payments. This is a web-based application that allows government agencies to process debit or credit card payments. The U.S. Department of Treasury ensures that Pay.gov is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant. PCI DSS sets requirements to ensure that all companies processing, storing, or transmitting credit card information maintain a secure environment. Naturalization applicants cannot pay the Naturalization immigration filing fees directly to Pay.gov.
Third-Party Payments
Third parties can pay the immigration filing and biometric fees on behalf of the naturalization applicant. Such third party will need to complete Form G-1450 and provide it to the applicant to submit with his or her N-400 naturalization application.
Declined Credit Cards Payments
Furthermore, USCIS rejects applications when the credit card payment for the immigration filing fee for naturalization is declined, or when Form G-1450 is unsigned or undated. In fact, USCIS also destroys Form G-1450 even if the payment is declined.
It sends a rejection notice to the naturalization applicant, explaining the deficiencies in the application and how to correct them.