What an Immigration Case Actually Costs and How Long It Takes in Orlando (2026)

For most family cases filed from inside Central Florida, the government filing fees run between roughly $700 and $2,200 per applicant, and the wait from filing to a decision runs 6 to 14 months. Naturalization sits at the fast end. A marriage green card sits in the middle. Anything that ends up in front of an immigration judge sits far outside that range, because the Orlando court works on a different clock than USCIS does. Below are the published fees by form number, and beside them the timelines this office actually sees in Orlando.

Every government figure on this page is linked to its source. The fees change, so check the form you are filing against the USCIS G-1055 fee schedule before you write the check. Figures below are current as of July 2026.

What are the 2026 USCIS filing fees?

These are the forms that come up most often in Central Florida cases. Fees are per applicant, and the online filing fee is lower than paper on several forms.

Fee waivers and reduced fees exist for households below the income thresholds USCIS publishes alongside the fee schedule. We check eligibility for those at the consultation rather than assuming a client can pay the full amount.

How long does an immigration case take in Orlando?

USCIS publishes national processing estimates and updates them monthly, so a number frozen into a web page goes stale fast. Check yours against the USCIS processing times tool using the receipt notice for your own case. What follows is different information: what this office has seen in Central Florida cases, drawn from the cases we have filed and appeared on since 1996 rather than from a model or an average.

These are ranges, not promises. Two things move a case outside them more than anything else: a Request for Evidence, which adds a couple of months once the response is filed, and an incomplete set of civil documents at the interview, which can cost a full appointment cycle.

Why does Orlando run differently?

The split between the two tables above is the whole story. USCIS work and immigration court work are on separate systems with separate pressures.

• The court backlog is the dominant factor. The national immigration court docket held 3,241,899 active cases in May 2026 according to TRAC Immigration at Syracuse University. Florida carries one of the largest shares. That is why a merits hearing sits years out while a naturalization interview sits months out.
• The Orlando court is a venue, not a queue you can choose. Removal cases for Central Florida are heard at the Orlando Immigration Court under the Executive Office for Immigration Review, part of the Department of Justice. It is a separate agency from USCIS and it does not share the field office's calendar. See justice.gov/eoir.
• Detention changes everything. A detained case moves in days and weeks rather than months. Bond hearings in Central Florida are typically heard within a week or two of the request, and detainees are frequently transferred to facilities outside the state, which changes where the case is heard.
• Filing online is faster than filing on paper on the forms that allow it, and it is cheaper. Where a form has an online option we use it unless something about the case makes paper necessary.
• The Orlando field office covers a growing metro. Orange County alone is home to roughly 350,000 foreign-born residents per U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data, and the caseload rises with the population.

Estimate your filing fees

Pick a case type to see the government filing fees involved and the range this office typically sees. This calculates in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere and there is nothing to sign up for.

What the filing fees do not cover

The government fee is rarely the whole bill. Budget for these as well:

• The medical examination for adjustment of status or consular processing, performed by a designated civil surgeon or panel physician and paid directly to that office.
• Certified translations of any civil document not in English. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and divorce decrees all need them.
• Certified copies of civil records from the issuing authority, in the United States or abroad.
• State Department fees on consular cases, which are separate from anything USCIS charges.
• Attorney fees. We handle most cases on a flat fee rather than hourly, and we quote it in writing at the free consultation so the cost is known before anyone commits.

How to use these numbers

Take the fee table as the floor and the timeline table as the planning range. If a case has a hard deadline attached to it, such as a conditional green card expiring or a one-year asylum filing deadline, the deadline governs and the processing range is beside the point. Bring the receipt notice for any pending case to a consultation. It carries the receipt date and the form edition, which is what determines both the fee that applied and the queue the case sits in.

If you want the fees and timeline for your own situation rather than a range, the consultation is free, runs 30 minutes, and is available in English or Spanish. Request a consultation and bring whatever paperwork you already have.

Sources: USCIS Form G-1055 fee schedule; USCIS processing times tool; Federal Register notice on H.R.1 immigration fees; TRAC Immigration, Syracuse University (immigration court pending caseload, May 2026); Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice; U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. Orlando timelines reflect what Immigration Law Center has observed in its own Central Florida cases and are not a guarantee of any result. Fees and processing times change; this page states figures current as of July 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for a specific case.