On March 28, 2023, U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) published a final rule regarding nonimmigrant visa fee increases at consular processing. The fees subject to the final rule are nonimmigrant visa application processing fees and the fee for a Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 and over. The DOS announced today that it is delaying the effective date from May 30, 2023, to June 17, 2023.

Nonimmigrant Visa Fee Increases

The DOS will increase the fees for:

• Certain non-petition based nonimmigrant visas (i.e., B1/B2, student and exchange visitor visa): From $160 to $185 (16% increase);

• Certain petition-based nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R category): From $190 to $205 (8% increase);

• A treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category): From $205 to $315 (54% increase); and

• A BCC for Mexican citizens age 15 and over: From $160 to $185 (16% increase).

The DOS states that these visa fee increases are to recover costs necessary to support nonimmigrant visa operations. According to the DOS, costs of providing nonimmigrant visa services have increased, and thus the current fees are not set at a level sufficient to permit the DOS to fully recover the costs that have increased. The DOS relies exclusively on retained revenue from consular fee collections to fund ongoing consular operations.

The last update on most non-petition based nonimmigrant visa fees occurred in 2012. For certain other nonimmigrant visa fees, the last update occurred in 2014.

As for the announcement on the fee increases by the DOS, please visit here.

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