Visiting the United States will soon require a $250 visa integrity fee, a move will take effect by 1st October 2025, consisting in a tax added to existing visa application costs, according to a provision in the Administration's One Big Beautiful Bill recently enacted and signed into law on 4th July 2025 applies to tourist, business travellers, students and workers entering the U.S.
The operations will be managed jointly by the DHS, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.
According to DHS, the policy aims to reduce visa overstays, a long standing issue in U.S. immigration enforcement. Hundreds of thousands of travellers each year remain in the country beyond their authorized perriod of stay, according to government data and by requiring a financial incentive for departure or status compliance and the American Government hopes to deter such violations.
This new charge will be added to the existing visa application fees, including the MRV, Machine Readable Visa fee, reciprocity fees, and anti – fraud charges, meaning that a single tourist visa application may now costs several hundred dollars or more.
The fee applies to almost all nonimmigrant visa categories as :
• Tourist and business – B1 - B2
• Student – F/M
• Work – H - 1B /H-4
• Exchange visas – J
Applicants from non-waiver countries such as Brazil, China, India and Nigeria will have to pay the visa integrity fee of $250 in addition to their other requires fees.#
Most tourists coming from Africa, Latin and South American countries, as well as select countries in Asia and the Middle East, will also be subject to new $250 levy.
Visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries, such as Australia, Brunei, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK will not be affected and most Canadians and Bermudians will also be exempt from paying the fee.
Diplomats in parts of the Middle East, as well as official visa holders, may qualify for special waivers.
Critics argue that the fee is misguided and counterproductive. President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, Geoff Freeman, has warned that the charge acts like a "self - imposed tariff" on international travellers, noting that it could discourage legitimate visitors, including students and tourists, from choosing the U.S. as a destination, as other countries compete for global travellers and aim to offer more friendly and affordable systems.
Link
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2025/07/19/new-250-us-visa-integrity-fee-to-raise-costs-for-american-visitors/
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