The US government is planning a new Visa Integrity Fee for nearly all non-immigrant visa categories as part of the Trump administration’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’.
For fiscal year 2025, the fee will be set at $250 (R4 450) or an amount established by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The fee is intended to encourage travellers to adhere to their visa conditions.
It will be charged in addition to the visa fees already in place – $185 (R3 300) for tourist and business visas.
Fees will not be waived or reduced. However, in some cases they may be reimbursed if travellers demonstrate that after entering the US, they complied with all conditions of their applied visa such as:
- Not accepting unauthorised employment,
- Not extending their period of admission during the visa validity and departed the US no later than five days after the last day of validity,
- Obtaining a lawful extension of non-immigrant status or an adjustment to the status of a lawful permanent resident.
The fees that are not reimbursed will be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury.
