U.S. raises visa application fee by 15%

The United States government has announced an increment for its non-migrant visa application fee effective from March 30.

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria, which said this in a statement issued on Wednesday, disclosed that the increases were published in the Federal Register on March 28.

According to the U.S. government, the changes is in line with the Department of State’s commitment to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States for both immigrant and non-immigrant travellers.

“The Department of State published a Final Rule regarding increases to certain non-immigrant visa application (NIV) processing fees and the Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 and over.

“These increases were published in the Federal Register on March 28, 2023, and will be effective on May 30, 2023.

“The fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s and BCCs), and other non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from 160 dollars to 185 dollars,” it stated.

The government said the fee for certain petition-based non-immigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) would increase from $190 to $205.

“The fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category) will increase from 205 dollars to 315 dollars.

“NIV fees are set based on the actual cost of providing NIV services and are determined after conducting a study of the cost of these services

“The Department uses an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology to calculate, annually, the cost of providing consular services, including visa services.

“The fees for most non-petition based NIVs were last updated in 2012, and certain other NIV fees were last updated in 2014,” it added.

The U.S. government stated that other consular fees are not affected by this rule, including the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors.

The U.S. government also noted that visas for work and tourism “are essential to President Biden’s foreign policy, recognising the critical role international travel plays in the U.S. economy.”

The Star

Segun Ojo