US tourist and student visa fee hikes from May 30

The visa fee payments made on October 1, 2022, are valid for 365 days from the date issued on the fee payment invoice.

Hyderabad: The United States has increased the Nonimmigrant Visa Application (NIV) processing fee for tourists and students. The new fee prices will be effective May 30, 2023.

The US Department of State said in its press release, “The fee for non-petition based NIVs such as visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2), student (F1), and exchange visitor visa (J1) is increased from $160 (Rs 13,100) to $185 (Rs 15,150). The fee for petition-based NIVs for temporary workers (H,L,Q,P, O, and R categories) will increase from $190( Rs 15,559) to $205 (Rs 16,787).

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For a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category), the fee is hiked from $205 (Rs 16,787) to $315 (Rs 25,795).”

The visa fee payments made on October 1, 2022, are valid for 365 days from the date issued on the fee payment invoice. If the applicant paid the fee before October 1, 2022, it is valid until September 30, 2023. So, the applicant must pre-schedule an interview or submit an interview waiver application before September 30, 2023.

Based on the expense spent on providing non-immigrant services, the price has increased. The United States claims that in order to determine the cost of providing consular services, including visa services, they use the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) method.