Planning USA Tour? Your American Dream Gets Costlier By Rs 21,000 - Check

In 2023, over 29 lakhs Indian immigrants were reported to be living in the United States. Notably, in 2023 and 2024, the United States issued over a million non-immigrant visas to Indians, setting a record. While the United States remains a popular destination for Indian, soon those planning to visit the country may have to pay more. There's a new visa fee to factor into your budget. Under a recent policy introduced by the President Donald Trump administration, a new Rs 21,600 (Approx) ($250) 'visa integrity fee' has been added for all non-immigrant visa applicants.

This new charge is part of a broader domestic policy aimed at tightening immigration processes and has caused concern across the global travel and tourism sectors. The fee applies to anyone applying for a non-immigrant visa—whether for tourism, education, business, temporary work, or medical visits. It's an additional cost on top of the existing $185 application fee, bringing the total to $435 for each applicant, reported TOI.

In 2024 alone, more than 11 million people were granted non-immigrant visas, according to US State Department figures. This new fee will apply to travelers from countries outside the U.S. visa waiver program, such as India, Mexico, Brazil, and China.

Those visiting the US from countries under the visa waiver program—including most of Europe, the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Chile, and Qatar—will not be affected. Most Canadian travelers are also exempt from this new fee, said the report.

There's also some uncertainty about whether the new $250 fee is refundable. While officials have indicated that refunds might be possible if the traveler follows all visa conditions during their stay, no clear guidelines have been issued on how or when such refunds would be processed.

In addition to the visa integrity fee, several other travel-related costs are also rising:

The I-94 form fee, used to record arrivals and departures, will increase from $6 to $24.

The EVUS fee, required for some Chinese nationals, will go up from $8 to at least $30.

The ESTA fee—used by visitors from visa-waiver countries—will rise from $21 to $40.

These new charges can also be adjusted annually for inflation, which means international travelers could face even higher costs in the future.