Last reviewed: September 21, 2026

How Much Does a U.S. Visa Cost? Full Fee Breakdown

Q: How much does a U.S. tourist visa cost?

$185 for the B-1/B-2 application fee. Most tourists owe nothing further; a small number of nationalities owe a reciprocity fee after approval.

Q: How long is the fee valid?

Generally one year from the date of payment — you must schedule the interview within that window, though the interview itself can fall later. Rules vary slightly by country.

Most visitors pay $185 — but that is rarely the whole cost. Students owe a second federal fee, some nationalities owe a third after approval, and several charges people expect to pay are not real. Here is the complete picture.

1. The visa application fee (MRV) — almost everyone pays this

Charged once per applicant, including children, and non-refundable whether or not the visa is issued.

Amount	Visa categories
$185	B-1/B-2 visitor, F student, M vocational, J exchange, C transit, D crew, I media, and other non-petition categories
$205	Petition-based work visas — H, L, O, P, Q, R
$315	E treaty trader and treaty investor
$265	K fiancé(e)

Confirm the current amount on the Department of State fee schedule before paying — these change.

Who does not pay the MRV fee

"Almost everyone" is not "everyone". We first found two exemptions on embassy payment pages on 9 September 2026, then eight on the USTravelDocs fee page on 15 September, and wrote that eight was "what we found, not what exists."

We have now found the authoritative list. The Foreign Affairs Manual sets out twelve exemptions at 9 FAM 403.4-3(A) (CT:VISA-1841; 10-03-2023), read on 21 September 2026:

A visas
G visas
NATO
C-3
All diplomatic type visas
J visa applicants on official U.S. Government-sponsored educational and cultural exchanges, including J-2 derivatives
A replacement visa where the original was not properly affixed, or must be reissued through no fault of the applicant — the FAM's example is consular staff invalidating a visa with the "CWOP" stamp. The reprinted visa keeps the expiration date of the original.
A replacement visa to correct errors made by consular staff, up to one year from original issuance and only for the original's remaining validity. After a year you must apply afresh, with a new fee, application and interview if required.
Bereavement and critical-injury travel for a parent, sibling, spouse or child of a U.S. Government employee killed in the line of duty, or of one critically injured, for visitation during emergency treatment and convalescence.
Locally employed staff travelling solely on official business — but only where a limited-validity visa is issued, typically three months single-entry. An applicant who wants full validity must pay all MRV and reciprocity fees.
Applicants exempted by international agreement, including UN observer-mission members and staff, C-2 applicants, and I visa applicants accredited by the United Nations.
Applicants travelling to provide charitable services, as determined by the Department.

Items 7 and 8 are the ones worth knowing. If a visa was misprinted or badly affixed, that is a consular or production error — and correcting it is free, within a year, for the remaining validity of the original. After a year the exemption lapses and it becomes a fresh application.

Note also that C-2 reaches exemption through item 11 rather than being listed as a class, which is why shorter summaries that group it with A and G are right about the outcome and loose about the route.

Separately, 9 FAM 403.4-3(B) exempts certain applicants from the issuance (reciprocity) fee under INA 281 — UN Headquarters transit, C-2, G visas for UN travel, B-1 observer-mission assignees and UN-accredited I visa applicants. That is a different fee from the MRV, so an exemption from one is not an exemption from the other.

Japan's page is the most specific about the J exemption: J applicants and their dependants on a Department of State, USAID, or federally funded educational and cultural exchange programme whose serial number on the DS-2019 begins G-1, G-2, G-3 or G-7 are exempt — and in that case neither the consular fee nor the SEVIS fee is required.

If your DS-2019 carries one of those numbers, check it before paying. That is two fees you do not owe.

2. The SEVIS fee — students and exchange visitors only

Paid separately at fmjfee.com against your SEVIS ID, before the interview. It is not covered by the MRV fee.

Amount	Who
$350	F-1 students and M-1 vocational students
$220	J-1 exchange visitors (most categories)
$35	Au pairs, camp counselors, summer work travel

Au pairs, camp counselors and summer work travel participants pay $35, not $220. Those three categories were left out of the 2019 increase and ICE lists them on a subsidised rate. If that is you, check the amount before paying.

So a typical F-1 student pays $185 + $350 = $535 in federal fees before any other cost.

3. The reciprocity fee — some nationalities, after approval

Charged only if the visa is approved, and only for certain nationality-and-category combinations. It mirrors what your country charges U.S. citizens, so it ranges from nothing to several hundred dollars. Check the reciprocity schedule for your nationality — most applicants owe nothing.

It is often not paid online, and that surprises people

The MRV fee is prepaid before you can book. The reciprocity fee is not always like that. The Philippines payment page states that this fee "should be paid to the cashier at the Consular Section on the day of the interview" — so it is owed in person, after approval is indicated, at a counter.

Posts differ. The India version of that page, read the same day, carries the identical explanation of what reciprocity is and simply stops before the sentence about the cashier. Our own Australia guide describes a related in-person charge: where one person applies for two visas, the second consular fee is paid at the consulate on the day of the interview and credit cards are not accepted for it.

So the practical rule is not "everyone pays at the cashier" — it is that you should find out before you travel to the interview whether your post collects anything on the day, and in what form. Someone who assumes everything was prepaid online can arrive without the means to pay.

4. The Visa Integrity Fee — charged at some posts, not others

A fourth federal charge exists in statute and you should budget for it, but its collection has not been uniform.

What is settled. Section 100007 of Public Law 119-21, signed 4 July 2025, created a Visa Integrity Fee payable by any person issued a nonimmigrant visa, at the time of issuance. The statute sets a minimum of $250 for fiscal year 2025 and directs that it rise with the Consumer Price Index in later years. It applies across nonimmigrant categories — B-1/B-2, F, J, H, L, O and others. Travellers entering visa-free under the Visa Waiver Program are not issued a visa and so do not pay it.

What is not settled. The statutory start date was 1 October 2025. The Department of Homeland Security's own fee notice of 22 July 2025 listed the fee among those it was not implementing at that time, stating it "requires cross-agency coordination before implementing" and would be set out in a later publication.

Where it now stands. Through 2026 the picture has been uneven rather than absent: some consular posts are actively collecting the $250, while others are still waiting on payment and tracking systems, and the Department of State has not published comprehensive implementation guidance. So this is no longer "legislated but not charged anywhere" — it is charged at some posts and not others. The statute also contemplates refunds for travellers who comply with their status and depart on time, but no refund procedure has been published, so do not budget on getting it back.

What to do. Treat $250 as a likely-but-not-certain additional cost per visa issued, and confirm with the post where you will interview before you travel — your own post is the only reliable answer, because the variation is between posts rather than between visa types. The totals in the next section deliberately exclude it, because whether you owe it depends on where and when your visa is issued.

5. Costs that are not the visa fee

The DS-160 itself is free. There is no charge to complete or submit it. Anyone charging you to "file the DS-160" is charging for typing.
Petition fees (I-129, I-140) are paid by the U.S. employer to USCIS, not by you at the consulate. From 9 September 2026 some employers also owe a $4,000 (H-1B) or $4,500 (L-1) biometric fee on every extension petition, not only on transfers — it falls on the employer, never on you, but it changes what a sponsor is quoted: the 9-11 biometric fee.
Visa bonds apply only to B-1/B-2 applicants from countries the Department of State has designated, and only when a consular officer requires one as a condition of issuance. The programme became permanent on 3 August 2026 (91 FR 48757) and the bond is set at $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 at the officer's discretion. Never pay a bond before being told to, and never through a third-party site. Full detail: the U.S. visa bond programme.
Courier and photo costs are small but real in some countries: passport return delivery, and printed photos where the post requires them. You can avoid photo studio fees with the free photo tool.

What a typical applicant actually pays

Applicant	Fees owed
Tourist (B-1/B-2)	$185
F-1 student	$535 ($185 + $350 SEVIS)
J-1 exchange visitor	$405 ($185 + $220 SEVIS)
H-1B worker	$205 (employer pays the petition separately)
K-1 fiancé(e)	$265
E-2 investor	$315

Add a reciprocity fee only if your nationality and category call for one, and the Visa Integrity Fee if the post where your visa is issued is collecting it.

Currency and where you actually pay

You never pay the U.S. government directly. Each country has one authorized service, and the local-currency amount is set by the consular exchange rate, not your bank's. Methods differ sharply — UPI in India, boleto and Pix in Brazil, convenience-store cash in Indonesia, bank counters in much of Africa and Asia.

See the country-by-country payment guides for the exact authorized service and accepted methods where you will interview.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a U.S. tourist visa cost?

$185 for the B-1/B-2 application fee. Most tourists owe nothing further; a small number of nationalities owe a reciprocity fee after approval.

Do I have to pay the $250 Visa Integrity Fee?

Possibly. It was created by statute in July 2025 for anyone issued a nonimmigrant visa, but DHS deferred implementation pending interagency coordination and collection has since been uneven between posts. Budget for it, and confirm with the post where you will interview.

Is the fee refundable if I am denied?

No. The MRV fee pays for processing the application, not for a positive outcome. It is non-refundable and non-transferable regardless of the result.

How long is the fee valid?

Generally one year from the date of payment — you must schedule the interview within that window, though the interview itself can fall later. Rules vary slightly by country.

Do children pay the full fee?

Yes. Every applicant needs their own DS-160 and their own fee, including infants. A small number of posts have reduced-fee arrangements for specific child categories — Mexico is one.

Why is my country's amount different from $185?

It is not — the fee is set in dollars and converted at the consular exchange rate published by the appointment service in your country. A different-looking number is the same fee in local currency.

Do I pay again if I am refused and reapply?

Usually yes. A 214(b) refusal closes the case, so reapplying means a new fee. A 221(g) hold is different — the case stays open and you normally do not pay again.

Related guides

Keeping this page current

Fees in this guide are checked against the Federal Register and the Department of State fee schedule. Dated entries for every change since 2025 are in the U.S. visa rule changes log.

More on SEVIS

For who owes the I-901 fee, when to pay it and how to recover a lost receipt, see the SEVIS fee explained.