The application fee for some non-immigrant visa (NIV) categories have been spiked by the US state department. This shall render the student and tourist visas more expensive.
NIV Category Visa fee Increased by US Government
The application fee has gone up from $160 to $185 for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s), as well as other non-petition-based NIVs, including student and exchange visitor visas.
For certain petition-based non-immigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories), the fee has been increased from $190 to $205.
The same shall increase for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category) will increase from $205 to $315.
As per the US Department of State’s release on increase to certain NIV processing fee, other consular fee is not impacted by this rule that includes the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors.
The release said that “All fee payments for visa interviews made on or after October 1 of the previous year are valid for 365 days from the date of issue of the fee payment invoice. Fees paid by applicants before October 1, 2022, will continue to be valid until September 30 of this year. As a result, applicants must pre-schedule an interview or submit an interview waiver application before September 30, 2023”.
Increase in Visa Fees Due to Cost of Provision of Non-Immigrant Services: US Govt
Citing the reason behind the increase as the cost acquired for providing the non-immigrant services, the US state department further said that it is “committed to facilitate legitimate travel” for both immigrants and non-immigrants.
The fee hike has been effected based on Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology to calculate the cost of providing consular services, including visa services.
The statement said that the “Visas for work and tourism is essential to President Biden foreign policy, and we recognise the critical role international travel play for US economy”.
