Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers

Form I-140 may be filed at any time. However, effective July 16, 2007, all labor certifications expire 180 days from the date of certification. We must receive any Form I-140 based on an approved labor certification before the 180-day validity period has elapsed. We will reject a petition that contains an expired labor certification. In instances where the ending date of the labor certification’s validity period expires on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, we will accept the petition if we receive it by the next business day. We will reject petitions with expired labor certifications filed after the next business day.

You can find further guidance on the Form I-140 instructions and on the Petition Filing and Processing Procedures for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers webpage.

You can find the filing fee for Form I-140 by visiting our Fee Schedule page.  

You can pay the fee with a money order, personal check, cashier’s check, or pay by credit card or debit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request. If you pay by credit card or debit card, you cannot later dispute the payment. Use our Fee Calculator to help determine your fee.

If you are submitting multiple forms, pay each filing fee separately. We are transitioning to electronically processing immigration benefit requests, which requires us to use multiple systems to process your package. We may reject your entire package if you submit a single, combined payment for multiple forms.

Filing Tips for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers

Complete all sections of the form. We will reject the form if the following fields are missing:

• Part 1 – Information About the Person or Organization Filing This Petition
  • Family Name OR Company or Organization Name;
  • Mailing Address;
  • IRS Employer Identification Number or Social Security number (does not apply to Part 2. Petition Type 1.a., alien of extraordinary ability or 1.h., national interest waiver);
  • Question 5 must have a selection of either Yes or No regarding your organization’s non-profit/government research status;
    • Self-petitioners should select No when answering question 5.
  • Question 6 must have a selection of either Yes or No regarding your organization’s number of full-time employees;
    • Self-petitioners should select Yes when answering question 6.

Note: Responses to questions 5 and 6 are used to determine whether the petitioner qualifies to file with a reduced Asylum Program Fee. If you provide the full $600 Asylum Program Fee with your petition, and do not indicate that you qualify for a reduced Asylum Program Fee, we will accept the full payment provided. 

• Part 2 – Petition Type
• Part 3 – Information About the Person for Whom You Are Filing
  • Date of Birth
• Part 8 – Contact Information, Certification, and Signature of the Petitioner or Authorized Signatory
  • Petitioner’s or Authorized Signatory’s Signature

When filing a Form I-140 and Form I-485 together, do not combine your supporting documents. We recommend assembling each form package in the following order:

• Form I-140
  • Check or money order or Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions;
  • Form G-1145, Request for e-Notification (if applicable);
  • Form G-28 (if applicable);
  • Form I-140; and
  • Supporting documentation.
• Form I-485
  • Check or money order or Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions;
  • Form G-1145, Request for e-Notification (if applicable);
  • Form G-28 (if applicable);
  • Form I-485; and
  • Supporting documentation.

Filing Tips: Review our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to ensure we will accept your form. Also note our special filing tips for EB-2 with National Interest Waiver.

Don’t forget to sign your form. We will reject any unsigned form.