New Electronic Payment System For 18 USCIS Field Offices

On November 5, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented changes to fee payments at the Los Angeles Field Office and the Los Angeles County Field Office [PDF version].

At the two Los Angeles offices, the USCIS implemented a new electronic system for processing fee payments. The goal of this system was to “increase transaction security and reduce processing errors that could cause USCIS to reject applications and petitions.” As a result of the change, applicants were no longer permitted to pay fees by money orders or cashier checks. Applicants were still permitted to pay by check, debit card, credit card, or reloadable pre-paid debit or credit card.

On February 25, 2019, the USCIS announced that it was expanding its new payment system to the following offices [PDF version]:

Albuquerque, New Mexico;
Buffalo, New York;
Detroit, Michigan;
El Paso, Texas;
Harlingen, Texas;
Hartford, Connecticut;
Jacksonville, Florida;
Louisville, Kentucky;
Mt. Laurel, New Jersey;
Newark, New Jersey;
Raleigh, North Carolina;
Sacramento, California; and
San Antonio, Texas.

These field offices join the Los Angeles, Los Angeles Count, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, and San Fernando Valley field offices in California.

The new news release specifies that the following forms of payment are accepted at the 18 affected field offices:

Personal check;
Attorney check;
Business check;
Debit card;
Credit card; or
Reloadable prepaid credit or debit card.

The USCIS stated “that the update to the fee payment system reduced processing time by 88 percent and reduced the overall applicant service wait time by 75 percent while giving USCIS field officers greater capacity to complete their cases more quickly.

The USCIS stated that it anticipates expanding the new electronic payment program to all field offices by the end of fiscal year 2019.