United States Visa Fee To Increase

Hanoi, December 19, 2007

Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131. This increase allows the Department of State to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the nonimmigrant visa application process.  Applications of individuals who have paid the previous $100 application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview before January 31.  Applicants who have paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008 must pay the additional $31 before they can be interviewed. 

The Department of State is required by law to recover the cost of processing nonimmigrant visas through the collection of visa application fees. Due to new security-related costs, new information technology systems, and inflation, the current $100 visa application fee no longer covers the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. As a result, we are required to raise the fee to $131.