The I-140 petition: the $715 form that locks in your priority date

The USCIS I-140 filing fee is one of the few fixed numbers in this whole process: $715. But the fee is the easy part. The I-140, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, is the bridge between the labor-market test (PERM) and your green card. Its real job is to prove you qualify for a specific employment category — and, just as important, to stamp your place in line.

What the I-140 actually does

The employer (or, in some self-petitioned categories, you) files the I-140 to show the beneficiary qualifies for the requested preference — EB-1 (extraordinary ability), EB-2 (advanced degree or exceptional ability), or EB-3 (professional or skilled worker). For EB-2 and EB-3 the petition is normally backed by the certified PERM from the Department of Labor. Approval confirms eligibility; it does not by itself hand you a visa number or lawful permanent residence.

The filing fee

The I-140 carries a USCIS filing fee of $715 under the current fee schedule at uscis.gov/forms. That is separate from the PERM stage (no USCIS fee) and from later steps like the I-485 adjustment filing at $1,440. A few special rules — asylum or refugee fee exemptions, for instance — can apply in narrow cases. For the standard employment petition, budget the $715 plus your own legal and document costs.

Time bands and fees per the allowed USCIS/DOL data. The I-140 is where your priority date is generally established for employment-based cases.

Typical processing time: 4 to 9 months

A typical I-140 takes about 4 to 9 months at USCIS. The figure that applies to your case depends on the service center and the classification, so always confirm the live range at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times. Times move with USCIS workload, so a range is a planning estimate, not a guarantee for your file.

Premium processing (optional)

USCIS offers an optional premium-processing service for many I-140 classifications, with a much shorter adjudication target than the standard 4–9 month track. The current premium fee and the list of eligible classifications are set by USCIS and do change; check uscis.gov/forms for the live amount before you count on it. One thing premium processing does not do: it will not make a visa number available sooner, so it cannot shorten a country backlog on the Visa Bulletin.

Why the priority date matters most

The single most consequential output of the I-140 is your priority date. For most employment-based cases it is generally set when the qualifying I-140 is filed (supported by the certified PERM for EB-2/EB-3). That date is your place in line. Whether you finish the green card depends on whether your priority date is earlier than or equal to the cutoff for your category and country of chargeability in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

How the real cutoffs interact with your I-140

Approval is necessary but not enough. Look at the August 2026 employment Final Action Dates: EB-2 is Current (“C”) for All Chargeability Areas, but China EB-2 is 01SEP21 and India EB-2 is Unavailable (“U”). An Indian EB-2 applicant can hold an approved I-140 and still be unable to file the final step, because no visa number is available. An EB-2 applicant chargeable to most other countries moves straight through once the I-140 clears. The I-140 proves you qualify; the bulletin decides when you finish.