Our Bureau
New Delhi
People seeking a tourist visa or students who want to study in the US will find the visa fee for both categories hiked from May 30. Visas for business or tourism (B1/B2), along with non-petition-based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will cost $185 each, In addition, certain petition-based non-immigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R) will cost $205 instead of $190.
This rule does not affect the consular fees, including the waiver of the two-year residency requirement for certain exchange visitors, and will increase the fee from $205 to $315 for treaty traders, treaty investors, and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category).
After October 1, fee payments for visa interviews are valid for 365 days from the date of invoice issuance. Fees paid before October 1, 2022, will remain valid until September 30, 2023. The US visa categories affected by the hike are: B1: Business; Domestic employee or nanny – must be accompanying a foreign national employer; B2: Tourism, vacation, pleasure visitor; H: Work visas; L: Intra-company transferee; O: Foreign national with extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business or Athletics; P: Performing athlete, artist, entertainer; Q: International cultural exchange visitor; R: Religious worker; E: Treaty trader/treaty investor.
After the latest fee 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.
“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 fees for most non-petition-based visas were last updated in 2012, and certain other fees were last updated in 2014.
