Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment

Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment, is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form on which a payer attests, for themselves or for the benefit requestor, that a paper fee payment is required because one of four listed exemptions applies.

The four exemptions printed on the form are:

• no access to banking services or electronic payment systems;
• undue hardship from electronic disbursement, as contemplated in 31 C.F.R. Part 208;
• national security or law enforcement activities where non-electronic transactions are necessary or desirable;
• other circumstances determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, as reflected in regulations or other guidance.

The form contains the attestation, a certification that the information is accurate, and spaces for the payer's signature and the date. It carries the DHS Privacy Notice, which cites Section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1356(m), as its authority. The notice explains that the form authorizes USCIS to receive a paper remittance from the petitioner, and that fees paid are final and not refundable regardless of any action USCIS takes on the application, petition or request.

Form G-1651 is not an application for an immigration benefit and does not replace one. It accompanies a benefit request. USCIS says your benefit request remains subject to all other fee and benefit submission requirements.

The payer who wants to pay USCIS filing fees on paper, and who can certify that electronic payment and collection methods are not possible, files Form G-1651. The payer must meet at least one of the four exemptions printed on the form. The form may be signed on the payer's own behalf or on behalf of the benefit requestor.

USCIS gives these examples of how many forms to send:

• One application filed by an individual age 14 or older: one Form G-1651, signed by the payer requesting the exemption.
• Several applications for different family members with different payers, such as multiple Forms N-400: one Form G-1651 for each payer. A payer who pays for more than one application still needs only one. Send separate paper payments for each application.
• A petition, an adjustment of status application and an application for employment authorization for the same applicant, all paid by the same individual: one Form G-1651.

You do not need this form if you are not requesting an exemption from electronic payment. The payer seeking the exemption must complete and sign it; USCIS rejects an unsigned form.

File Form G-1651 when you can certify that you are exempt from the electronic payment requirement and want to pay your filing fees by mail or in person at a USCIS Field Office. It has no deadline of its own. You submit it at the same time as the benefit request it supports, so the benefit request's filing rules set the timing.

You cannot submit Form G-1651 separately, either before or after the associated benefit request. It must go with your completed benefit request and payment. If USCIS approves the exemption, it processes the paper-based payments you submitted with the benefit request. To pay at a Field Office, you must first make an appointment through the Contact Center.

You can submit Form G-1651 by mail with your benefit request, or in person at a USCIS Field Office by appointment.

• By mail: complete Form G-1651 and place it on top of your completed benefit request, together with the correct fee payment (see the USCIS Fee Schedule). Mail the package to the filing location listed in the "Where to File" section of the webpage for the form you are submitting.
• At a Field Office: to make your payment in person, make an appointment through the Contact Center.

USCIS accepts these paper payments with a properly completed Form G-1651: personal or business check, money order, bank draft, or cashier's check. There is no fee to file Form G-1651 itself; the fees for the benefit request are on the USCIS Fee Schedule page. If you print the form to mail it, the edition date and page numbers must be visible at the bottom of every page and all pages must come from the same edition, or USCIS may reject it. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the USCIS channels above.