US will soon charge most travellers an extra US$250 in ‘visa integrity fee’
Tourists travelling to the US will soon have to pay a new “visa integrity fee” of at least US$250, on top of existing visa application costs, under US President Donald Trump’s recently enacted “big, beautiful Bill”.
The fee will apply to many leisure and business travellers, international students and other temporary visitors who are required to obtain non-immigrant visas.
Nearly 11 million of these were issued in 2024, according to US State Department figures.
However, citizens of more than 40 countries in the US visa waiver programme, including Singapore, may be exempt from the fee.
The US$250 fee covers the 2025 fiscal year, which began on Oct 1, 2024, and will end on Sept 30, 2025. It may subsequently be adjusted for inflation.
Travellers who do not overstay their time or participate in unauthorised work while in the US may be eligible for reimbursement once the visa expires. But with many visas valid for years and no system currently in place for processing refunds, the fee will likely be non-refundable.
Immigration lawyer Steven Brown, a partner at Houston-based Reddy Neumann Brown, described the fee as a “refundable security deposit” in a recent post about the new policy.
The mechanism for refunds is still unclear, and the US Department of Homeland Security, the agency instituting the fee, has yet to offer specifics about the process.
A spokesman for the US Travel Association, a national non-profit organisation aimed at increasing travel to and within the US, told CNBC Travel, “There is no timeline for implementation of the fee or direction as to how the fee will be collected and refunded”.
Erik Hansen, a senior vice-president at the association, said the new fee “adds an unnecessary financial barrier for international visitors”.
The association estimates that the fee will raise the “upfront costs” of visiting the US by 144 %.
“Even if it is technically reimbursable, the added complexity and cost will discourage visitors,” he added.
A single tourist visa for a family of four could now include US$1,000 in visa integrity fees alone.
The fee also applies to international students and employment-based visas.
A student visa currently costs around US$500, while an employer hiring an H-1B worker already pays a US$780 application fee and a US$500 anti-fraud fee.
Raul Dancel
The Straits Times
Asia News Network
