If the petitioner fails to pay the required fees after a change of venue, what must the court do?

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When a party asks for a change of venue, paying the required fee is a condition to moving the case. If that fee isn’t paid, the court isn’t allowed to grant the venue change. The proper result is to dismiss the petition for change of venue without prejudice. This keeps the case alive in a sense, allowing the party to refile or pursue the venue change again later once the fee issue is resolved, or to proceed in the original venue if appropriate.

Staying the case isn’t appropriate because the procedural hurdle (the unpaid fee) hasn’t been cleared. Imposing a fine and continuing isn’t the correct remedy for a missing fee under a change-of-venue rule. Declaring the venue change void isn’t the standard outcome either—the rule directs dismissal of the change-of-venue petition (without prejudice), not an automatic nullification of the entire case.