Foreign nationals who now apply for immigrant visas will have to pay the USCIS immigrant fees. USCIS and the DOS worked jointly and implemented this new fees and the immigrant visa applicants must pay the immigrant fees to the USCIS apart from paying the visa processing fees to the DOS. After they receive their visa packages, they must electronically pay the immigrant fees $220, to the USCIS before they enter into the country.
They must first pay the immigrant visa processing fees and then the USCIS immigrant fees. Visa applicants, while they appear for consular interviews will be provided information about the fees that they need to pay to the USCIS. However, they can make the payment online and need not wait in queues to pay the fees.
This fee will cover the cost incurred by the USCIS to produce Green Cards and to deliver the cards to the permanent residents. Foreign nationals who receive their visa packages on or after the 1st of February, 2013, must pay this fees after they receive their visa packages from the overseas US consulates or embassies. However, people in the United States who look forward to bring their adoptive children to the United States under the Orphan or Hague Adoptions Process, may not be required to pay this immigrant fees.
To pay the fees electronically through the USCIS website, applicants must answer few questions and provide information about their bank accounts or information about their credit or debit cards. Payment can also be made by someone else on behalf of the applicant.
All the applicants who receive their visa packages must pay this fees and they may not be granted Green Cards until they pay the immigrant fees. However, their lawful status may not be at risk if they fail to pay this fees and the foreign nationals may use their Arrival/Departure records to prove their lawful status in America as Form I-94 is valid for one year. But they must obtain Green Cards before Form I-94, expires to prove their lawful status.