Travelers to the U.S. must pay a new $250 'visa integrity fee' -- what to know [View all]

Source: CNBC

Visitors to the United States will need to pay a “visa integrity fee,” according to a provision of the Trump administration’s recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The fee applies to all visitors who need nonimmigrant visas to enter, and cannot be waived.

However travelers may also be able to get the fees reimbursed, according to the provision.

-snip-

The fee will be at least $250 during the U.S. fiscal year 2025, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025. However, the secretary of Homeland Security is free to set the fee higher, according to the provision.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/18/visa-integrity-fee-what-to-know-about-new-travel-fee-to-enter-the-us-.html

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This will apply to all "tourists, business travelers and international students."

They can get the fee back if they comply with visa conditions and don't overstay the visa by more than 5 days.

The bill's language is a mess and doesn't clarify the interagency cooperation that will be necessary for collection of fees and reimbursement, but they're counting on few people getting reimbursed and estimated this never-collected fee will bring in nearly $30 billion in revenue in the next decade.

Idiots.