Americas

Americas

U.S. to Increase Nonimmigrant Visa Fees From April 13

30 March 2012 04:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The U.S. Department of State has announced it will increase non-immigrant visa processing fees in most categories starting from April 13, APA reports quoting Ria Novosti.

â€œFor a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas,â€ the State Department said in a statement on Thursday. â€œThe nonimmigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.â€

â€œAlthough most categories of nonimmigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancÃ©(e)s of U.S. citizens) will decrease,â€ the statement said.

Under the new schedule of fees, applicants for all visas that are not petition-based, including tourist and business visitor (B1/B2) visas and all student and exchange visitor (F, M and J) visas, will pay a fee of $160 instead of $140.

Applicants for petition-based visas will now pay an application fee of $190 instead of $150. These visa categories include H (for temporary workers and trainees), L (for intra-company transferees), O (for aliens with extraordinary ability), P (for athletes, artists and entertainers), Q (for international cultural exchange visitors) and R (for religious occupations).

At the same time, the application fee for K visas (for fiancÃ©(e)s of U.S. citizens) will be reduced from $350 to $240.

All immigrant visa processing fees will decrease, the State Department said.