What you need to know regarding the new $250 US Visa Integrity Fee: how it works, what it means, and what you need to do.
The U.S. government has recently added a $250 Visa Integrity Fee to the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This fee will apply to many visitors who need nonimmigrant visas. Millions of people around the world will be impacted by this new fee, which will start in late 2025. This includes tourists, business travellers, international students, and people applying for work and exchange visas.
In this blog post, we’ll go over the details of this new fee, who will have to pay it, how it works, and what it could mean for people who come to the U.S. in the long run.
What is the $250 US Visa Integrity Fee?
People who want to get a nonimmigrant visa to the United States are required to pay the Visa Integrity Fee. The fee is part of the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to improve the immigration system, cut down on visa overstays, and bring in more money to help enforce immigration laws. The fee will be added to the costs of applying for a visa.
Starting in late 2025, the $250 Visa Integrity Fee will apply to a number of visa types, such as
- B-1/B-2 (Business and Tourist Visitors)
- F/M (Visas for Students)
- H-1B/H-4 (Visas for Work)
- J (Visas for Exchange Visitors)
The purpose of this new fee is to make the U.S. visa system more honest by making sure that people follow the rules of their visas, such as when they have to leave and what work they can’t do.
Who Will Have to Pay the Visa Integrity Fee?
Most foreign nationals who want to get a nonimmigrant visa have to pay the Visa Integrity Fee. It will have an effect on tourists, business travellers, international students, and workers who are applying for different types of visas. People from countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Programme (like the UK, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea) don’t have to pay this fee.
- Tourists (B-1/B-2 Visa): People who want to visit the U.S. for a short vacation will have to pay the fee.
- Business Travellers (B-1 Visa): People who come to the U.S. for work to go to meetings or conferences will also have to pay this fee.
- International Students (F/M Visa): Students who want to study in the U.S. will also have to pay the new fee.
- H-1B Workers: People who want to work in the US on an H-1B visa will have to pay the fee as an extra to the regular application fee.
Countries That Don’t Have to Pay the Fee
People from Visa Waiver Programme countries like Australia, the UK, and others won’t have to pay the Visa Integrity Fee. These visitors don’t have to pay the new fee because they can come to the U.S. for short visits (up to 90 days) without getting a visa.
Also, Canadians, Bermudians, and some diplomats and official visa holders may not have to pay, depending on certain rules.
When and how will the fee be paid?
The $250 Visa Integrity Fee must be paid when the visa is issued, which means that people who are applying for a visa will have to pay the fee up front. But if your visa application is denied, you won’t have to pay the fee.
The fee will be added to costs that are already there, like
- Fees for Machine Readable Visa (MRV)
- Fees for Reciprocity
- Charges for Anti-Fraud
For example, someone applying for an H-1B work visa, which currently costs $205 to apply for, will now have to pay a total of $455 in fees after the new fee is added.
The new fee will be due with the application and the visa, that means many people who travel to the U.S. will have to pay more money.
How to Get a Refund or Reimbursement
The Visa Integrity Fee is meant to be a bond for compliance. If a traveller follows the rules of their visa, they may be able to get their fee back after their visa expires.
For the traveller to get their money back, they must:
- Don’t take jobs that you aren’t allowed to.
- Not stay on their visa for more than five days
For instance, international students and workers who follow the rules for their visas and leave the U.S. before their visas expire may be able to get the $250 back. But it will probably take years to set up the reimbursement process, and many immigration lawyers say that the fee should be seen as non-refundable.
The person will lose the money if they break any visa guidelines, even if they do it on purpose or by accident. This can put travellers at risk financially, especially those who are on business trips or short visits.
Will the New Fee Cut Down on Visa Overstays?
The main goal of the Visa Integrity Fee is to cut down on visa overstays, which have been a big problem for U.S. immigration enforcement. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that a lot of people who are living in the U.S. without permission came here legally but stayed longer than their visas allowed.
From 2016 to 2022, only 1% to 2% of nonimmigrant visitors stayed longer than their visas accepted. Many critics, on the other hand, say that the fee could make it less likely for real visitors, like international students or business travellers, to choose the U.S. as their destination.
Geoff Freeman, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said he was worried that the Visa Integrity Fee could have the opposite effect, causing travellers to choose other countries with cheaper and easier visa systems.
Effect on Travelling Abroad
The new fee, along with the existing visa application fees and the Form I-94 fee going up from $6 to $24, could make it much more expensive to travel to the U.S. This could make tourists and business travellers less likely to come to the country, especially since other places around the world have easier and cheaper visa processes.
Ana Garcia, a Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research, says that most travellers will comply with the rules for visas and be able to get their money back, which eases some worries. But the high fee may still be a problem for people who want to visit the U.S. for school or tourism.
Problems for U.S. tourism and advertising
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also cut Brand USA’s funding. Brand USA is the U.S. marketing group that promotes tourism from other countries. The budget for Brand USA went from $100 million to $20 million because of the funding cut. This made it harder to promote tourism in the U.S.
Brand USA continues to attempt to increase international travel, which is important for the U.S. economy, even though these problems exist. The U.S. is also getting ready for big events in 2026, like the America 250 celebration and parts of the FIFA World Cup. These could make things even more difficult for tourists.
What will the fee mean for big U.S. events?
The US is getting ready for a number of big events in the next few years, such as
- America 250 (marking the 250th anniversary of the country)
- Hosting parts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
With higher fees and possibly fewer tourists, it’s not clear how these events will be affected, especially since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the visa fee hikes have made changes.
The Long-Term Effects of the $250 Visa Integrity Fee
The Visa Integrity Fee will be a big change in U.S. immigration policy. Beginning in late 2025, millions of people who want to travel to the US will have to pay an extra $250 for a nonimmigrant visa. The fee is expected to raise billions of dollars and help with visa overstays, but it could also make people less likely to travel abroad, especially tourists and students.
The process for getting money back is still unclear, and the possible financial burden could make travellers think twice about going to the U.S. Still, this fee is meant to make the U.S. immigration system more honest, with the goal of making it easier for people to follow the rules and stay within their visas.
As the U.S. prepares for major global events, this new fee will likely change the future of travel to the country. Many people are waiting for more information on how it will be implemented and how to get their money back.
