Department of State Announces Increase in Application Fees

The Department of State issued an interim final rule on May 20, 2010 that will increase several categories of visa fees effective June 4, 2010. The new fee structure will be as follows:

• The application fee for petition-based nonimmigrant visas (categories H, L, O, P, Q, and R) will increase to $150.
• The application fee for E nonimmigrant visas will increase to $390.
• The application for K nonimmigrant visas will increase to $350.
• The border crossing card fee charged to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico, and whose parent or guardian already has a border crossing card or is applying for one, will increase to $14.
• The application fee for the remaining non-petition-based nonimmigrant visa fees and border crossing card application processing fees will increase to $140.

The Department of State has stated that the fees are being adjusted to ensure that they are able to meet the costs of providing consular services following an independent cost of service study which found the current cost structure to be insufficient. The new fee structure is intended to accurately reflect the cost of providing consular services for each visa category.

Written comments on the interim final rule must be received on or before July 19, 2010 at http://www.regulations.gov/index.cfm.

The final interim rule can be found here.

On June 28, 2010, the Department of State also announced a new schedule for consular fees to take effect including passport, immigrant visas, and other consular fees on July 13, 2010. The schedule can be found at www.travel.state.gov.