Non-Immigrant Visa Fees to Increase Worldwide on January 1, 2008
December 19, 2007

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Carl Cockburn, Consul General at the US Embassy in San Salvador answered questions from reporters regarding the increase of US visa fees worldwide on January 1, 2008.

The US diplomat announced that starting January 1, 2008, the fee to apply for any non-immigrant visa to enter the United States, including tourist, business, student and other visas, will increase to $131.

Application fees of $100 paid prior to January 1, 2008, will be accepted until January 31, 2008. After January 31, all applicants will be required to have paid the equivalent of $131 at the time of processing, regardless of the date of original application.

The fee for a US immigrant visa will also increase $20 to $355.

Procedures for payment of visa fees will not change: all applicants for non-immigrant visas to visit the United States should pay the visa application fee at any Banco Cuscatlan branch.

The Department of State must periodically adjust fees, whether for visas or other services provided, to comply with U.S. federal legislation requiring it to recoup the costs of services through fees charged directly to the users of those services. Improvements in security and information processing systems, as well as inflation, have increased processing costs for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, as well as for certain services provided to U.S. citizens.

Since 2004 the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visa applications has exceeded the revenue from visa application fees. The last fee increases for non-immigrant visas occurred in 2002.