The United States (US) has increased visa processing fees for different categories, including tourists and students, from May 30, 2023. The fee for visitor visas for business or tourism, and non-immigrant visa applications (NIV) such as student and exchange visitors will increase from $160 to $185, the US Department of State said in a statement on March 28.
After this revision, Indian students applying for a US visa will now have to pay Rs 15,171 from Rs 13,531, as per the current exchange rate.
The department has also hiked fees for visas for temporary workers. The department said the fee for non-immigrant visas for temporary workers will increase from $190 to $205. The fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicant in a specialty occupation (E category) will also increase from $205 to $315.
Among the categories that will be affected by the price revision are H (work visa), L (intra-company transferees), O (foreign nationals with excellent knowledge in certain fields, P (Performing athlete, artist, and entertainer), Q (international cultural exchange visitors), and R (religious works).
“Other consular fees are not affected by this rule, including the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors,” the department said. It added that non-immigrant visa fees are set based on the actual cost of providing NIV services and are determined after conducting a study of the cost of these services.
The department, it said, uses an activity-based costing methodology to calculate, annually, the cost of providing consular services, including visa services. The fees for most non-petition-based visas were last updated in 2012, and certain other fees were last updated in 2014.
Source: PTI
