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Affidavit of Support Fee Refund: DOS

January 28, 2021 (1 min read)

State Department, Jan. 27, 2021

"When the Department of State's and Department of Homeland Security's public charge rules went into effect on February 24, 2020, Form I-864W was eliminated from U.S. government use. Those applicants who were previously required to file form I-864W are no longer required to do so, and as such, are not required to pay the affidavit of support fee to NVC. Individuals who were not required to submit an affidavit of support but who paid the affidavit of support fee on or after February 24, 2020, may be eligible for a refund of that fee.

You may request a refund of the affidavit of support fee, if:

  • You paid an affidavit of support fee to NVC for a fee bill issued February 24, 2020 or later and

  • That fee bill was issued for an immigrant visa case you (a U.S. citizen) are sponsoring for your biological or adopted child (visa class CR2 or IR2) who is under 18 or was on the date the fee bill was issued or

  • You are claiming that the beneficiary of your immigrant visa petition earned or can be credited with 40 quarters of qualifying employment under the Social Security Act.

Review the requirements for an applicant to benefit from the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 or the 40 quarters of qualifying employment under the Social Security Act exemption to determine whether you may qualify for a refund.

How to request a refund of the affidavit of support fee

Complete the online inquiry form for NVC at https://nvc.state.gov/inquiry with the following information:

  • Your NVC case number*

  • Principal applicant's name and date of birth*

  • Petitioner's name*

Note: The fields with asterisks* are required fields for submitting the NVC inquiry form. You do not need to repeat that information in the body of the inquiry.

All refund requests must be received by NVC before close of business on July 30, 2021.

How long will it take to process my refund request?

Please allow up to twelve weeks for your refund to be processed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We consider refund requests on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the claim qualifies for a refund."