Labor Immigration Law

The U.S. Department of State has announced that effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131 and the fee for a U.S. immigrant visa will increase from $335 to $355.

This increase allows the Department to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process. This increase applies both to non-immigrant visas issued on machine-readable foils in passports and to border crossing cards issued to certain applicants in Mexico.

It is important for our readers to note that applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview on or before January 31. Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008 must pay the difference — $31 — before they will be interviewed.