What does a green card cost? Fees and waiting times for entrepreneurs

Ask what a green card costs and you often get a number with no context. Yet the government fees are public and fixed to the dollar, for every form and every person. This guide brings them together for the entrepreneur routes, works through the numbers for a family and shows how long each stage takes, based on the figures published by USCIS, the State Department and the Department of Labor.

A green card has no price tag like a product. It costs the sum of the fees for every form on your route, multiplied by the number of people coming with you. On top of that come fees for doctors, translators and attorneys, which the authorities do not set, and on some routes an investment or a salary an employer must pay. And it costs time, which is longer on some routes than on others.

This guide sticks to what is certain: the USCIS and State Department fees in force in October 2026, and the processing times the agencies publish themselves. What each route requires in substance is covered in our overview Green Card for Entrepreneurs.

1What costs money in a green card case

Every employment-based route has two stages. First the petition, which establishes your category: the I-140 for EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3, the I-526 or I-526E for EB-5. Then the application for the green card itself, either in the US with the I-485 or at the consulate with the DS-260. On the employer route, the Department of Labor process comes first; it carries no USCIS fee, but the employer must bear its costs.

The petitioner pays for the petition once, however big the family. The green card application is paid for each person separately, every child included. For a family with three children, the application is therefore the bigger item, not the petition.

The fees in this guide are government fees. What an attorney charges for preparation depends on the route and the scope and is not part of this calculation. Green card lottery fees are not part of the entrepreneur routes; you will find them on our separate lottery page.

2The petition: I-140 and Asylum Program Fee

The I-140 is the petition for all routes in categories EB-1 to EB-3: EB-1A, EB-1C, the NIW and petitions via PERM. It costs $715 filed on paper and $665 online. Every I-140 also carries the Asylum Program Fee, which depends on who files: a regular employer pays $600, a small employer or self-petitioner $300, a nonprofit nothing.

For entrepreneurs this means: if you self-petition for the NIW or EB-1A, you pay $1,015 on paper for the petition. If your own US company files an EB-1C, it counts as the employer, and it matters whether it qualifies as a small employer. The Gold Card petition, the I-140G, is a separate form with its own fee: $15,000 for each person included in the petition, spouses and children too.

EB-5 has its own forms. The I-526 for a direct investor and the I-526E for an investor through a regional center each cost $3,675 until November 29, 2026; the first I-526E also carries an extra $1,000 under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act. The table below shows the petition fees by route.

3The green card itself: I-485 or consulate

Once the petition is approved and your priority date is current, you apply for the green card. If you are lawfully in the US, you file the I-485. It costs $1,440 on paper and $1,390 online for each person aged 14 or older. For a child under 14 filing their I-485 together with a parent's, it is $950 and $900. The medical form I-693 carries no USCIS fee, but you pay for the exam with the approved doctor yourself.

While the I-485 is pending, you can apply for a work permit, for $260 if you filed the I-485 with a fee on or after April 1, 2024, and for a travel permit, Advance Parole, for $630 on paper or $580 online. Both are optional but can matter for the family: if you leave the US with a pending I-485 and no Advance Parole, in most cases you abandon the application.

If you live in Europe, you go through the consulate. The immigrant visa based on an I-140 or I-526 costs $345 per person. After entry, each person pays the $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee, which covers USCIS issuing the green card. The consular route is much cheaper in fees but has different consequences for travel, work and waiting times.

4Everyone pays: what it costs for a family

An example makes the math clearest. A family of two adults and two children under 14 takes the EB-2 NIW route. One parent self-petitions with the I-140, on paper, without Premium Processing.

In the US, the family pays $1,015 for the petition, twice $1,440 for the adults' I-485 and twice $950 for the children's. That is $5,795 in mandatory fees. If both adults apply for a work permit and all four for Advance Parole, add $520 and $2,520, for a total of $8,835. Through the consulate, the same family pays $1,015 for the petition, four times $345 for the immigrant visas and four times $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee, $3,335 in total.

Not included are doctors' fees, translations of certificates and documents, travel to the consulate and attorney fees. Premium Processing for the I-140 adds $2,965. The table below breaks it down item by item.

5Premium Processing: paying for time

Premium Processing is the only fee that directly speeds up a USCIS case. For the I-140 it costs $2,965, on top of all other fees. USCIS then responds with a decision or a request for evidence within 15 business days in most categories, and within 45 business days for the EB-1C and the NIW.

What Premium Processing does not speed up matters just as much. It applies only to the petition, not to the Department of Labor process, the Visa Bulletin or the consulate. In EB-2 and EB-3, where you wait for your priority date after the petition, it often buys you less time than it first seems. In EB-1, which had no backlog for European applicants in November 2026, it can shorten the route noticeably.

6EB-5: fees and investment

With EB-5, the fees are the smaller part. The investment is $1,050,000, or $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area or for an infrastructure project, and for petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027, the law adjusts these amounts for inflation. The capital must be at risk in the business and create or preserve ten full-time jobs.

The fees change on November 30, 2026. Under the EB-5 Fee Rule, published on September 30, 2026, the I-526 rises from $3,675 to $7,615 and the I-526E to $7,850, each including a $75 technology fee. Petitions through the Regional Center Program add a $1,100 petition fee. The I-829, which you file after two years to remove the conditions on your green card, rises from $3,750 to $5,000. The postmark date is what counts. For the full cost of the EB-5 including project costs, see our guide EB-5 total costs.

7Gold Card: the gift and the fee

The Gold Card program created by Executive Order 14351 of September 2025 works differently from the EB-5. Instead of a job-creating investment, it requires an unrestricted gift to the US Department of Commerce: $1 million if you give on your own behalf, or $2 million if a company gives on your behalf. The gift is meant to count as evidence for the EB-1A, the exceptional ability category of the EB-2 and the NIW.

On top of that comes the I-140G petition at $15,000 for each person included. It can only be filed online, once your registration for the program is confirmed. Unlike an EB-5 investment, the gift is not capital working in a business. So comparing the two routes is not just comparing amounts: it is money you keep versus money that is gone. Our article on the Gold Card covers the political background.

8PERM: what the employer pays

On the employer route, much of the cost is not yours to carry. Department of Labor regulations bar the employer from having the costs of the labor certification paid or reimbursed. That covers the ads, the recruitment and, explicitly, the attorney fees. Any such payment, including one from you, can lead to denial, revocation of the labor certification or debarment of the employer.

The employer also carries a risk that appears in no fee table: it must pay at least the prevailing wage set by the Department of Labor and prove it can pay that salary from the priority date until the green card. For the I-140, it pays the filing fee and the Asylum Program Fee. Your own applications and your family's are not covered. Our guide Green card through your employer walks through the process step by step.

9Timing: how long each stage takes

On some routes, time is the bigger price. The longest stretch is the employer route before the petition. On September 30, 2026, the Department of Labor was issuing prevailing wage determinations for PERM requests received in June 2026. Next comes recruitment, whose mandatory steps must fall 30 to 180 days before filing. The labor certification itself took an average of 336 calendar days in August 2026. After that, you have 180 calendar days to file the I-140.

USCIS processing of the I-140 and the I-485 depends on the form, the category and the service center. USCIS publishes these times on its Processing Times page, and they change month to month. If you need predictability, you can buy it for the petition with premium processing: 15 business days in most categories, 45 for EB-1C and NIW. The table below sums up the stages.

10Waiting times in the Visa Bulletin

The stage you can influence least is the wait for an available visa number. For applicants born in Europe and charged to the "all chargeability areas" column, the November 2026 Visa Bulletin set the final action date at April 1, 2025 for EB-2, June 15, 2024 for EB-3 and June 1, 2022 for other workers. EB-1 and EB-5 were current. For applications inside the US, USCIS allowed the more favorable dates for filing chart in November 2026: EB-2 up to March 15, 2026, EB-3 up to August 1, 2024.

These dates are no promise. At the start of fiscal year 2027, in October 2026, some cutoff dates for countries without their own column moved back to keep issuance within the quarterly and annual limits. For families, the wait counts twice: children still have to qualify as children at the end. If you are planning with older children, factor in a route without a backlog, even if it costs more.

11After the green card: renewal and travel

The fees do not end entirely with the green card. You renew the card itself with Form I-90, which costs $465 on paper or $415 online. A conditional green card from the EB-5 cannot be renewed; you remove its conditions with the I-829.

If you plan to spend longer periods abroad, for example to keep running a business back home, apply for a reentry permit for $630 before you leave. Without one, USCIS takes as a guideline that you may have abandoned your status after more than a year away. And finally, the green card costs taxes: as a permanent resident you are a US tax resident and file returns with the IRS on your worldwide income. How that works alongside your home country is covered by our US tax return service.

In short

• The I-140 petition costs $715 on paper or $665 online, plus a $300 Asylum Program Fee for self-petitioners and small employers or $600 for other employers.
• Every person pays separately for the green card: in the US, the I-485 at $1,440; at the consulate, $345 plus a $235 USCIS immigrant fee.
• A family with two children under 14 pays at least $5,795 in mandatory fees via the NIW in the US, or $3,335 via the consulate, not counting the medical exam and attorney.
• EB-5 fees rise on November 30, 2026, with the I-526 going from $3,675 to $7,615.
• The longest stages are set by the agencies: the Department of Labor for PERM, and the Visa Bulletin for EB-2 and EB-3.

How we help you

• Visa RoadmapIn writing: which visa fits you and your family, prepared with the immigration attorney on the firm's team.
• Visa and Green Card ConsultationWhich route to the USA fits you, settled in one conversation.
• Visa Roadmap for Company FormationFormation and visa in one plan, so the company carries the visa.
• Your US Tax ReturnForm 1040 or 1040-NR, handled in English.