The U.S. State Department, which asks for no compensation for registry in the Green Card Lottery, will ask for immigrants to pay fees when they win the Green Card Lottery.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is a government organization that funds itself mostly through fees collected from immigrants applying for benefits in the U.S.
Considering the cost of immigration form fees is an important part of coming to the U.S. Some fee waivers may be available in some circumstances, but applications for fee waivers may be declined.
Green Card Lottery Fees
The Green Card Lottery itself is funded and supervised by the U.S. Department of State and has no associated fee itself.
Winners of the Green Card Lottery will be directed to apply for an immigration visa and this process will require that the applicant pay fees.
While the application for the Green Card Lottery does not have any fees, this does not consider the fees that may be charged to applicants from third-party organizations to help file this application.
Many Green Card Lottery applicants opt to use a third-party organization to make sure that their application is correctly filed as a person only has one chance per year to file correctly for the Green Card Lottery.
Other Green Card Fees
There are a number of other fees associated with Green Cards that applicants should consider:
- If a Green Card needs to be replaced after being lost, stolen or damaged, applicants are to file Form I-90, the Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, which comes with a $365 form fee and an $85 biometrics fee for a total of $450.
- The initial application for a Green Card is Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The form fee is $985 with an $85 biometric fee, bringing the total fee cost to $1,070
It is important to remember that fees are subject to change. USAGreenCardLottery.org will update the fee costs as they change.