U.S. Visa Application Fees To Increase On January 1

The U.S. Department of State has announced that effective January 1, 2008, the mandatory application fee for U.S. non-immigrant visas will increase from $100 to $131. This fee must be paid by all U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants other than those applying for diplomatic and international organization employee visas.  Visa applicants or must pay this fee when scheduling appointments on line using the U.S. Embassy in London’s online appointment system. Applicants who have already paid the visa fee at the current rate for appointments scheduled to take place after January 1 will not be required to pay the increased fee if their interview takes place prior to January 31; all other applicants making appointments after January 1 will be charged at the new rate.  According to the Department of State, the fee increase reflects increased costs for processing non-immigrant visas, which by law the Department must attempt to recover through the collection of the visa application fee. The last time the fee was increased was in 2002.  The London Embassy has not yet announced the pound equivalent of the increased fee, which should be approximately  £60.