“IMMIGRATION LAW CONNECTION”

As of June 4, 2010, in an effort to offset rising costs associated with visa processing, the U.S. State Department has just implemented sweeping fee increases, raising the current $131 MRV fee (”Machine-Readable Visa” fee) to a tiered-fee system, based on individual visa categories.

In a press release the U.S. State Department stated: “For a number of reasons, including new security enhancements, the $131 fee set on January 1, 2008 no longer covers the current, actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas.”

Under the new schedule of fees, applicants for all visas that are not petition-based, including B1/B2 tourist and business visitor visas and all student and exchange visitor (F, M and J) visas, will pay a fee of $140.  Applicants for petition-based visas will pay an application fee of $150. These categories include:

· H visa for temporary workers and trainees
· L visa for intracompany transferees
· O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability
· P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers
· Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors
· R visa for religious occupations

The application fee for K visas for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens will be $350. The fee for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors will be $390.

At this time, only the fees for non-immigrant visas increased on June 4. Proposed fee changes related to U.S. passports, immigrant visas, and other consular services are still under review.

Visa applicants and Immigration Practitioners should frequently check websites of various U.S. Consular posts as needed, for updated filing and fee payment information.  [State Department's Visa Fee Page ]