Thanks to the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” international visitors to the United States will be forced to pay a $250 “visa integrity fee” just to touch U.S. soil, NBC News reports.
A provision of the recently approved legislation is a non-waiveable fee that will be applied to all visitors during the U.S. fiscal year 2025— running from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025—in need of a nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States. The fee is subjected to change at the hands of the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) in addition to inflation.
There are pros and cons to the additional travel hassle, including some visitors being eligible to have the fee reimbursed. According to CNN, travelers from countries aligned with the Visa Waiver Program, such as Australia and several European countries, aren’t required to obtain visas for stays of 90 days or under. The bill also claims the move could assist with growing the economy as fees that aren’t reimbursed are set to be “deposited into the general fund of the Treasury.”
But, as a spokesperson from the U.S. Travel Association observed, with all the policy’s uncertainty, it opens a window of “significant challenges and unanswered questions regarding implementation.” In addition, it is unclear how people will pay the fee.
“The bill directs the DHS Secretary to charge the fee, but DHS does not own the visa application, issuance, or renewal process—so where and when would DHS collect the fee?” the travel association spokesperson told NBC News.
A DHS spokesperson said the provision was added “to restore integrity in our nation’s immigration system.” According to data from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, between 1%-2% of nonimmigrant visitors overstayed their visas between 2016 and 2022. An estimated 42% of the roughly 11 million unauthorized population living in the United States came to the country legally.
Steven A. Brown, a partner at Reddy Neumann Brown PC, an immigration firm, has advised clients to look at the fee as nonrefundable and thinks B Visa holder visitors will be impacted the most.
The fee, on top of the Form I-94 fee, set to increase from $6 to $24 thanks to the bill, comes as the U.S. prepares to host major events in 2026, including the country’s 250th anniversary and parts of the FIFA World Cup. Immigration advocates are already concerned about how new policies could affect the popular sporting event.
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