Mailing an immigration application to USCIS and then waiting weeks for confirmation that it arrived is one of the more stressful parts of the process — particularly for applicants managing tight timelines or multiple concurrent filings. Form G-1145, the E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, is a free, optional form that eliminates much of that uncertainty. By including it with a mailed petition, applicants receive an email or text notification within 24 hours of USCIS accepting the filing — providing earlier awareness and one less source of anxiety during an already complex process.
What Form G-1145 is
Form G-1145 is a USCIS form used to request electronic notification — by email, text, or both — when an immigration application or petition mailed to a USCIS lockbox facility is accepted into the system. It collects only five pieces of information: first name, middle name, last name, email address, and mobile phone number. There is no filing fee.
The notification you get from Form G-1145 is not the same as your official receipt notice. It confirms that USCIS received your filing and entered it into their system, but the formal receipt notice — Form I-797C, Notice of Action — is still mailed to you separately. The paper notice can take several weeks to arrive, and the exact time varies. That is why the G-1145 message is helpful: it lets you know much sooner that your package arrived safely, instead of waiting weeks for the mailed notice.
Who Can Use It And For Which Filings
There is no special eligibility requirement to file Form G-1145 beyond one practical constraint: the form is only available for petitions mailed to a USCIS lockbox facility. It cannot be used for online filings — those generate electronic confirmations automatically — and it is generally not available for petitions sent to USCIS service centers.
Not all petition types are eligible. Filings commonly associated with Form G-1145 include:
- Family-based Green Card petitions filed using Form I-130
- Employment-based Green Card petitions filed using Form I-140
- Adjustment of status applications filed using Form I-485
- Work permit requests filed using Form I-765
- Travel document requests filed using Form I-131
Petitions for nonimmigrant work visas, such as Form I-129, are generally not eligible. Applicants should confirm whether their specific petition qualifies by reviewing the eligible forms list on the USCIS Form G-1145 page before submitting.
How To Complete And Submit It
Form G-1145 takes only a few minutes to complete. After downloading the current edition from the USCIS website, the applicant fills in the five required fields and places the completed form at the front of the application package — on top of the primary petition and all supporting documents — before mailing.
For applicants submitting multiple petitions in the same package, a separate Form G-1145 should be clipped to the front of each individual petition. USCIS processes each form separately and will send a distinct notification for each accepted filing.
If contact information changes after the package has been mailed, the applicant should contact USCIS directly to update their details.
What Happens After Filing
Once the package arrives at the USCIS lockbox facility, Form G-1145 is scanned first. Within 24 hours of USCIS accepting the application, the applicant should receive an email or text confirming receipt. From that point, case progress can be tracked using the USCIS Case Status Online tool once the receipt number from the formal Form I-797C notice has been received by mail.
If Form G-1145 is not included with the filing, the petition is still processed normally. The only difference is the absence of an early electronic notification — the applicant will need to wait for the paper receipt notice to arrive to confirm receipt.
Why It Is Worth Including
Form G-1145 does not affect how a petition is adjudicated, does not accelerate processing, and costs nothing to include. Its value is informational — but in the context of immigration filings, where a package lost in transit or delayed in processing can have real consequences, that early notification carries meaningful practical weight. For applicants managing multiple concurrent filings, or those who are monitoring timelines closely, knowing a package has been received and accepted is a straightforward and costless benefit.
Getting It Right The First Time
For most applicants, adding Form G-1145 to a filing package is a minor preparatory step that takes minutes. For those assembling more complex filing packages — concurrent I-485, I-765, and I-131 filings, for example — having experienced immigration counsel review the full package before mailing is a practice frequently associated with cleaner submissions and fewer avoidable complications from the outset.
