Visiting US to cost extra USD 250 as visa integrity fee

Dhaka: Foreign visitors to the United States will be subject to a new USD 250 visa fee, as part of changes introduced by the Trump administration’s recently enacted domestic policy bill.

The fee will apply to nonimmigrant visa categories, including foreign tourists, business travelers, and students. The charge, called a “visa integrity fee,” will be levied in addition to the USD 185 cost of the nonimmigrant visa itself.

Some 11 million visitors were issued nonimmigrant visas in 2024, according to statistics from the US Department of State.

Visitors from countries that participate in the visa-waiver program, which includes most of Europe, as well as Australia, Chile, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, among other countries, will not be subject to the fee. Most Canadian visitors will also be unaffected.

While the fee is required when applying for a nonimmigrant visa, travelers may be reimbursed after their trip as long as they comply with their visa’s restrictions. The bill does not stipulate how reimbursements will be processed.

Furthermore, there are several other new and increased fees. The fee for the I-94 form will increase to USD 24, up from USD 6. The fee for the Electronic Visa Update System, required of certain nonimmigrants from China, will increase to at least USD 30, up from USD 8. Also, the fee for Electronic System for Travel Authorization, which is required for visitors from visa-waiver countries, will increase to USD 40, up from USD 21.

The bill also allows for annual increases for inflation.

• T