U.S. increases visa processing fees
WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Department of State has announced beginning April 13, 2012, it will adjust its visa processing fees.
The Department in a statement said the fees for most non-immigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.
The Department said it is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees.
“For a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas. The non-immigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand,” said the statement.
It said although most categories of non-immigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens) will decrease.