Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026
QUICK ANSWER
How much does a US green card cost from Pakistan through an immigrant visa?
The immigrant visa fee is US$325 per person for a family case based on an approved I-130 petition, or US$345 for an employment case based on an approved I-140, and family cases add US$120 for the Affidavit of Support. USCIS's petition fees and immigrant fee are separate, and the State Department publishes no overall processing time: it depends on your category's wait in the Visa Bulletin.
Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.
A green card — lawful permanent residence in the United States — is issued abroad as an immigrant visa. From Pakistan there are two realistic ways to one: a close relative who is a US citizen or green card holder petitions for you, or a US employer does. A small group of highly qualified people can petition for themselves through the National Interest Waiver.
What decides the wait is your category, not the strength of your file. Spouses, parents and unmarried under-21 children of US citizens have no queue; everyone else waits for a visa number, brothers and sisters for many years. 2026 added delays of its own: immigrant visa issuance for Pakistani nationals was paused in January, the pause was struck down in court in August, and interviews worldwide were then paused for retraining. Check the position before you plan around a date.
Most refusals come down to one of four
01Your category's queue
02A complete Affidavit of Support
03Relationship evidence
04An honest history
USUnited States · ImmigrationFACT SHEET
Main routes from Pakistan
A family petition, an employer's petition, or your own National Interest Waiver
Queue
None for immediate relatives of US citizens; everyone else waits for a visa number
Where the queue is published
The State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin, where Pakistan falls under “All Chargeability Areas”
Applying on the wrong visa is one of the quickest ways to a refusal, so read both lists before anything else.
You’re in the right place if you are
An immediate relative of a US citizen
Spouses, parents and unmarried children under 21 of US citizens — immediate relatives, with no annual limit.
Another relative waiting on a priority date
Other relatives of citizens and green card holders — adult and married children, brothers and sisters, spouses of green card holders — who wait for their priority date.
A professional with a US job offer
Professionals with a US job offer whose employer will go through labour certification — the EB-2 and EB-3 categories.
Working in the US national interest
Researchers, doctors, engineers and founders whose work has national importance to the US — EB-2 with a National Interest Waiver, with no employer needed.
For the immigrant visa, through the National Visa Center
0/4
Before the interview
0/2
Step by step · with timings
How to apply, and how long it takes
In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.
1First
Find your category
Family cases split into immediate relatives of citizens, who have no queue, and the preference categories, which wait. Work cases are mostly EB-2 or EB-3. Your category and your country of birth decide which line of the Visa Bulletin you watch.
2Months to a year+
The petition
A relative files Form I-130 with USCIS. An employer usually gets a labour certification from the Department of Labor first and then files Form I-140; with a National Interest Waiver you file the I-140 yourself. The filing date becomes your priority date.
3None to years
Wait for your priority date
Preference categories move only as fast as the Visa Bulletin allows. When your date is close, the National Visa Center asks for fees, the DS-260 and your documents. Answer it and keep your contact details current: a case left without a response for a year can be closed.
4
Documents and the Affidavit of Support
Upload civil documents, police certificates and, in family cases, the petitioner's Affidavit of Support. The public charge test — whether you are likely to depend on US public benefits — was tightened in 2025 and 2026, so make the sponsor's financial evidence complete.
5Days, or months if held
Medical and interview in Islamabad
Have the medical with an embassy-approved panel physician before the interview. The officer may approve you on the day, or hold the case under section 221(g) for more documents or administrative processing, which can take weeks or months.
6
Travel and receive the green card
Pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee and enter the US before the immigrant visa expires. You become a permanent resident when you are admitted, and the green card is posted to your US address.
The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.
Paid with the petition
USCIS filing fees
USCIS charges a filing fee for each petition, set out in its fee schedule (Form G-1055). Premium processing, where it is offered for an I-140, costs extra.
FIGUREUSCIS (G-1055)
Paid per person
Visa, affidavit and immigrant fees
The State Department charges an immigrant visa application fee for each person, and an Affidavit of Support fee in family cases. After the visa is issued you pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, which pays for producing the green card.
FIGUREState Department
Paid to third parties
Medical, police and translations
The medical examination, vaccinations, police certificates and translations are paid to whoever provides them.
FIGUREEach provider
Paid by the employer
Labour certification
The employer, not you, must bear the cost of a labour certification. Be wary of anyone who asks you to pay for a job offer or a “green card sponsorship”.
This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.
Read before you apply
Why US immigration applications are refused
The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.
REFUSED
01
Held under section 221(g)
Administrative processing under section 221(g) after the interview. Many Pakistani cases go through it, it can last months, and nothing hurries it.
02
An affidavit that falls short
An Affidavit of Support that falls short — tax returns that do not match, a joint sponsor who is not credible — under a tightened public charge test.
03
Relationship evidence in doubt
Relationship evidence the officer doubts: a birth registered with NADRA only recently, a Nikah Nama and marriage certificate that disagree, little proof of a real marriage.
04
Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation — an undeclared refusal or overstay, a false experience letter — which can bar you from the US permanently.
05
Past unlawful presence
Unlawful presence: an overstay of more than 180 days brings a three-year bar once you leave, and a year or more a ten-year bar.
06
A child who turns 21
A child who turns 21 before the visa is issued. The Child Status Protection Act protects some children, not all, and long waits make this a real risk.
07
Entering as a visitor to stay
Entering on a visit visa intending to stay and apply for a green card there, which can be treated as misrepresentation.
Already been refused?
Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.
Two agents cover WhatsApp between them, so this reaches a person rather than an inbox. The first assessment is free and you get a straight answer, including when that answer is no.
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Assalam-o-Alaikum! I'd like a free assessment.
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Destination: United States
(ref: form-guide-immigration-us)
Only in narrow cases. The National Interest Waiver lets you petition for yourself under EB-2 if your work has substantial merit and national importance to the US, and extraordinary ability (EB-1A) is another self-petition. The Diversity Visa lottery is not open to people born in Pakistan.
No. Pakistan is on the list of countries that sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the previous five years, so its natives cannot enter; it was excluded for DV-2026, and DV-2027 registration had not opened by September 2026. The one exception is claiming a spouse's eligible country of birth, if you are both named on the selected entry, both receive visas and enter the US together.
It depends on the category. A US citizen's spouse, parent or unmarried child under 21 has no queue, so the wait is petition and processing time. Everyone else waits for their priority date in the Visa Bulletin — brothers and sisters of citizens longest, often many years.
For a time. From 21 January 2026 the State Department paused immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, Pakistan among them. A federal court struck the pause down on 21 August 2026 and the government appealed, and from late August interviews were paused worldwide while consular officers retrained. Pakistan is not on the separate travel-ban proclamation that took effect on 1 January 2026.
A programme created by executive order in 2025: applicants make a large payment to the US government, pass vetting, and receive a green card in the EB-1 or EB-2 category. You register on trumpcard.gov and then file Form I-140G with USCIS. It has been challenged in court, and it does not skip the security checks or the wait for a visa number.
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