Current Immigration Statistics - What Does It Cost To Get A U.s. Visa?

Foreign visitors or immigrants who want to travel to the United States pay a variety of fees to obtain visas. Fees for visa services are collected by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, and information on forms and fees can be found on the department's Web site (http://travel.state.gov). The following list of fees was effective March 8, 2005 (based on the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 22, Part 22, Sections 22.1 through 22.7). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had additional fees for some services.

Temporary Nonimmigrant Visa Services

Nonimmigrant visa application and border-crossing card processing fees (per person) are as follows:

• Nonimmigrant visa application processing fee (nonrefundable; Form DS-156)—$100.00
• Border-crossing card (age 15 and over; non-refundable)—$100.00
• Border-crossing card (under age 15), for Mexican citizen if parent or guardian has or is applying for a border-crossing card (non-refundable)—$13.00
• L Visa, Fraud Prevention and Detection for visa applicant in the L blanket petition abroad only (principal applicant only)—$500.00
• Citizens of Visa Waiver Program participating countries, and meeting requirements, pay a small fee determined by USCIS

  No fee services include the following:

• Applicants for A, G, C-3, NATO, and diplomatic visas (defined in 22 CFR 41.26)
• Applicants for J visas participating in official U.S. government sponsored educational and cultural exchanges
• Replacement of machine-readable visa when the original visa was not properly affixed or needs to be reissued through no fault of the applicant
• Applicants exempted by international agreement as determined by Visa Services, including members and staff of an observer mission to United Nations Headquarters recognized by the UN General Assembly, and their immediate families
• Applicants traveling to provide charitable services as determined by Visa Services
• U.S. government employees traveling on official business

  FIGURE 3.1
  Number of immigrants living in the United States, 1996–2004
  SOURCE: Steven A. Camarota, "Figure 1. Number of Immigrants Living in the United States: 1996–2004," in Economy Slowed, But Immigration Didn't: The Foreign-Born Population, 2000–2004, Center for Immigration Studies, November 2004, http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/back1204.pdf (accessed February 2, 2005)

• A parent, sibling, spouse, or child of a U.S. government employee killed in the line of duty who is traveling to attend the employee's funeral and/or burial; or a parent, sibling, spouse, or child of a U.S. government employee critically injured in the line of duty for visitation during emergency treatment and convalescence

Permanent Immigrant Services

Costs associated with obtaining permanent status include:

• Filing an immigrant visa petition to classify status of alien relative for issuance of immigrant visa (collected for USCIS and subject to change; USCIS Form I-130)—$185.00
• Petition to classify orphan as an immediate relative (collected for USCIS and subject to change; USCIS Form I-600)—$525.00
• Immigrant visa application processing fee (per person; Form DS-230)—$335.00
• Diversity Visa Lottery surcharge for immigrant visa application (per person applying as a result of the lottery program)—$375.00
• Immigrant visa security surcharge, for all immigrant visa and diversity visa applicants—$45.00
• Affidavit of Support review (only when AOS is reviewed domestically; Form I-864)—$70.00

Special Visa Services

Costs for special visa services include:

• Application for determining returning resident status (Form DSP-117)—$400.00
• Transportation letter for legal permanent residents of the United States—$165.00
• Application for waiver of two-year foreign residency requirement (J Waiver; Data Sheet, Form 3035)—$215.00
• Application for waiver of immigrant visa ineligibility (collected for USCIS and subject to change)—$250.00
• Refugee or significant public benefit parole case processing—No fee
• U.S. visa fingerprinting—$85.00