The
United States has increased the fee for tourists and students seeking visas.
The new prices will be effective on May 30. Several non-immigrant visa
application (NIV) processing fees were announced by the US Department of State.
In addition to other non-petition-based NIVs, including student and exchange visitor visas, the fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2) will increase from $160 to $185. The cost of some petition-based non-immigrant temporary worker visas (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) will rise from $190 to $205. Treaty investors, traders, and candidates in a specialty occupation (E category) will now pay a $315 cost rather than the previous $205 cost.
The waiver of the two-year residency requirement fee for
some exchange visitors and other consular fees is unaffected by this
regulation. Visa interview fees paid on or after October 1 of the prior year
are valid for 365 days after the date the fee payment invoice is issued.
The
most recent modification to the non-petition-based NIV fees was in 2012, and
some other NIV rates increased in 2014. The increase will impact the following
US visa categories: B1: Business; Domestic Employee or Nanny; B2: Tourism,
Vacation, Pleasure Visitor; H: Work Visas; R: Religious Worker; and E: Treaty
Trader.
To facilitate legal travel for both immigrants and non-immigrants, the US State Department has increased fees. The fee increase was put into effect using the activity-based costing (ABC) technique, which determines how much it costs to provide visa services and other consular services. This fee increase is intended to assist the US government in achieving its service delivery objectives and reflects the costs associated with providing visa services.
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