How much does I-290B cost?

I-290B, appeal or motion - $800 (paper only; per the G-1055 fee schedule (edition 10/07/26), checked Oct 11, 2026) (site figures reviewed 2026-10-11; verify against the USCIS fee schedule).

Where do I file I-290B?

File your appeal or motion at the appropriate address listed on the USCIS Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion page. Do not file Form I-290B directly with the Administrative Appeals Office.

USCISAfter a denial

Form I-290B: what it is, who files it, cost and timing

Updated: October 6, 2026Author: Alina Kanametova

Notice of Appeal or Motion

I-290B: what the form is for

Key answer

Use this form to file: An appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO); A motion with the USCIS office that issued the latest decision in your case (including a field office, service center, or the AAO); or Certain appeals of the denial of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Form I-17, Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student, with the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

I-290B: fee and where to file

USCIS fee: I-290B, appeal or motion - $800.

Edition date: 05/31/24
I-290B, appeal or motion: I-290B, appeal or motion - $800 (paper only; per the G-1055 fee schedule (edition 10/07/26), checked Oct 11, 2026)
Fee per uscis.gov: You can find the filing fee for Form I-290B on the USCIS Fee Schedule page. G-1055
Where to file: File your appeal or motion at the appropriate address listed on the USCIS Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion page. Do not file Form I-290B directly with the Administrative Appeals Office.
Form: PDF
Instructions: PDF

Amounts are the site's fee table, reviewed 2026-10-11. Source: uscis.gov, checked 2026-10-02.

I-290B: how many cases USCIS handles

Q3 of fiscal year 2026 (April-June 2026): USCIS received 10,144 filings on this line, approved 2,967 and denied 4,922 (38% of decisions were approvals); 28,258 were waiting at the end of the quarter. Half of the completed cases took up to 2.9 months.

Line in the report	Received	Approved	Denied	Pending	Median, mo.
I-290B, appeals and motions	10,144	2,967	4,922	28,258	2.9

Decisions are counted in the quarter they were issued, so some were filed earlier; the line covers every category of the form, not your visa alone. Source: USCIS, Number of Service-wide Forms (xlsx), read 2026-10-11.

From the knowledge base: RFE: What Is a Request for Evidence

After filing your petition, there are four possible outcomes: approval, RFE, NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny), or outright denial without any requests. The last scenario is rare-according to O-1 statistics from October 2016 to September 2023, immediate denials happened in only about 0.23% of cases-and it means the officer saw nothing in the file relevant to the criteria at all. In all other cases, you'll receive a letter and a deadline to respond before a decision. A full breakdown by category and an analysis of what increases the risk of an RFE can be found here: why RFEs are issued.

An RFE is the middle ground. The officer did not deny your case but paused and explained what evidence is still needed to make a decision. The practical benefit is that you get a written list of issues: it details what was credited, what was not, and exactly what you need to provide. Before the RFE, you could only guess how the officer would read your case-after the RFE, you know.

Read the full article

I-290B: what the chats ask

2×About the appeal
1×Appeal after denial on final merits.

I-290B: community answers

Does approval of an O-1, EB-1A, or EB-2 NIW petition guarantee visa issuance at the consulate?: No, USCIS approval of a petition does not guarantee visa issuance. The consulate may send the case for review, request additional information, or in rare cases return the petition for reconsideration.

I-290B: real timelines named in the chats

Stage	Typically	Note
not specified, USCIS petition process: request for additional documents after a request for reconsideration	about 4 months	It was mentioned that after a request for reconsideration, USCIS requested additional documents in about 4 months.
EB-2: motion to reconsider after a denial	several months or more	There was mention of waiting on a motion to reconsider filed in December after a November denial, with no decision at the time of the message.

I-290B: myths and reality

Myth: USCIS can revoke or change status that has already been granted just because it wants to, without reasons.

In reality: Revocation or reconsideration of status usually requires legal grounds, such as a material violation, error, misrepresentation, or failure to meet the terms of status. It does not happen arbitrarily, but the risks depend on the facts of the case.

I-290B: rules and tips from the chats

ruleEven after prior approvals, a case may be reviewed again or reconsidered on the initiative of immigration authorities. Previously approved petitions do not guarantee automatic approval of later stages or new applications.
common questionAfter an I-140 denial, people often ask about motion to reopen or reconsider options: which forms to file, what arguments and new evidence are needed, and how realistic approval is after review.
ruleFiling for another visa while the first case is unfinished or returned for reconsideration is possible, but there is a risk of being placed in administrative processing again, and the decision on the second case may depend on the outcome of the first.
ruleEven with a strong or already approved EB-1 or O-1 petition, a consular officer may send the case for administrative processing or return it for reconsideration for subjective reasons.
common questionDuring a long wait, applicants often reconsider life plans: buying a home, obtaining residency in another country, changing their place of residence, or relocating temporarily.

I-290B: cases from the community

EB-1A or EB-2 NIW · not specified · outcome not stated

After an unfavorable petition decision, the applicant challenged the denial through an administrative appeal; the appeal took about a year and was sustained, but the case was then returned for additional review.

What they did: Filed an appeal with the administrative body, secured reconsideration, and then waited a long time for the immigration service's final merits review.

I-290B: the consular stage - rules from the chats

A refusal status or 221g does not always mean a final denial, but it may require waiting for reconsideration or completion of the review.
Internal notes and tickets at the consulate may be ambiguous; the applicant usually cannot see exactly where the decision is stuck.

I-290B: questions and answers on the site

Distilled from the public community chats, anonymised; corpus as of June 2026. These are participants' observations, not legal advice and not USCIS statistics.

I-290B: from community discussions

«I had already written that my friend applied for an EB-1+485 from a tourist visa and was denied on the I-140. They filed an appeal and lost, and now they have refiled the I-140+485 within a month after the appeal denial. They have no other status. The lawyers say that everything is fine with their legal presence, nothing is violated.»
Irina · from public community chats
«I filed directly with the AAO. The response came in just under a year. I won the appeal - after that, my case was required to be sent back to USCIS for a final merits review. After that, everything got stuck and has not moved for 1.5 years and probably never will. A useless waste of time.»
Sergey · from public community chats
«This site is useful for understanding what not to do. But this does not represent all denials, as I understand, only those where an appeal was filed. It is not a given that this is representative statistics; perhaps IT specialists simply do not file appeals.»
Natalya P. · from public community chats
«I prepared all the documents myself, wrote everything myself, filled out the forms myself, and joined this chat when I had already filed for EB1. I learned to write for EB1 through appeals, reading hundreds of appeals to write the petition.»
Vladimir · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

The form and instructions on the official site Check the forms before sending

I-290B: related guides

I-290B: samples and documents from the library

I-290B: common questions

What is I-290B?: Use this form to file: An appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO); A motion with the USCIS office that issued the latest decision in your case (including a field office, service center, or the AAO); or Certain appeals of the denial of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Form I-17, Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student, with the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
How much does I-290B cost?: I-290B, appeal or motion - $800 (paper only; per the G-1055 fee schedule (edition 10/07/26), checked Oct 11, 2026) (site figures reviewed 2026-10-11; verify against the USCIS fee schedule).
Where do I file I-290B?: File your appeal or motion at the appropriate address listed on the USCIS Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion page. Do not file Form I-290B directly with the Administrative Appeals Office.

Reference information from public USCIS and State Department rules, not legal advice. Fee amounts change: check them against the calculator on uscis.gov before sending.

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