A $250 charge is coming for nearly everyone who receives a U.S. nonimmigrant visa, and the government has until September 30 to start collecting it. Most applicants still do not know it exists.
What Happened
The Visa Integrity Fee was created by the 2025 budget law signed on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It applies to most nonimmigrant visa categories and is collected by the State Department when a visa is issued, on top of the existing MRV application fee and any country-specific reciprocity fee.
Implementation has been slow. A July 22, 2025 Federal Register notice said the fee “requires cross-agency coordination before implementing,” and the department said it would be implemented in a future publication.
Rollout is expected before the end of fiscal year 2026 on September 30, but no firm national date has been announced. Collection has been uneven across consular posts, according to Greenberg Traurig and the Alliance for International Exchange.
The Numbers
The fee is $250 per visa issued for fiscal year 2026, and it may rise with inflation in later years. It cannot be waived or reduced.
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It is charged at issuance rather than at application, so applicants who are refused a visa do not pay it. It sits on top of, not instead of, the fees applicants already pay.
Whether the fee can ever be recovered has not been spelled out in published guidance, and practitioners are treating any reimbursement path as unresolved.
Who Pays and Who Does Not
The fee reaches most people who need a visa stamp: tourists and business visitors on B-1 and B-2, students on F and M, exchange visitors on J, and temporary workers on H, L, O and similar categories.
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Exempt are Visa Waiver Program travelers using ESTA, Canadian and Bermudian citizens in visa-exempt categories, holders of diplomatic and official visas in the A, G and NATO classifications, and immigrant visa applicants.
What This Means for You
Budget an extra $250 per person, per visa. For a family of four applying together, that is $1,000 on top of everything else they already owe.
Confirm with your consular post before your appointment. Collection is uneven, and whether you pay may depend entirely on where you apply and when.
Timing matters if you have flexibility. Visas issued before collection begins at your post will not carry the fee.
Employers should update relocation budgets and any policy that reimburses visa costs for transferred staff.
Keep your receipts. If a reimbursement mechanism is ever established, proof of payment is what you will need.
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This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.
What Comes Next
Watch for a Federal Register notice setting the collection date and the payment mechanism. Until that publishes, the fee’s start date is a local question at each consulate rather than a national one, and applicants should plan for it to appear at any time before September 30.
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