How Much Does A Visa For America Cost?
Different US visas incur different fees.
Costs are also subject to change, and you are advised to check at the time of making an application to ensure you are paying the correct amount to avoid issues or delays with your application.
ESTA authorization
ESTA applications cost $21 per person for individuals looking to travel to the US on the visa waiver program. The fee is usually taken in your local currency at the current exchange rate.
How much is a temporary US visa?
| US visa type | Application fee |
| Non-petition Based Visas | $185 |
| Petition Based Visas | $205 |
| E Visas | $315 |
| K Visas | $265 |
Non-petition based visas
Non-petition based visas do not require sponsorship. These include:
- B-1 and B-2 visas
- F visa for students and academics
- I visa for media and journalists
- J visa for exchange visitors
- M visa for vocational students
Applicants apply using form DS-160, submitting supporting evidence and attending a visa interview.
Petition based visas
Petition-based visas require sponsorship by an employer or someone from the US. The sponsor will also have to file a petition (and pay a petitioning fee) before the main applicant can submit their application.
Petition-based visas include:
- H visas for temporary workers
- L visas for intracompany transfers
- O visas for persons with extraordinary abilities
- P visa for athletes, entertainers, and artists
- Q visa for international cultural exchanges
- R visa for religious workers
Other fees
Additional fees may also apply for nonimmigrant visa applications:
- L visa applications – $500 for fraud detection and prevention
- H visa applications – $4,500 for petitioning
- Reciprocity fees – fees for issuing visa and border crossing cards. These depend on the country you are applying from and the passport that you hold.
Exemptions to nonimmigrant visa fees
- A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO, and diplomatic visas
- J visa applicants sponsored by the U.S government
- To replace a machine-readable visa when the original visa was not well stamped and it was not the applicant’s fault
- Applicants part of international agreements such as members of staff of the UN Headquarters and their families
- Applicants travelling for charity purposes
- U.S government employees travelling for official business
- Parents, siblings, spouse, and children of a U.S government employee who was killed in the line of duty, and the family is travelling to attend the funeral or burial
Reciprocity fees are not payable where:
- Visa applicants are part of international agreements such as members of staff of the UN Headquarters or the UN General Assembly, and their families
- Visa applicants transiting to the UN Headquarters
- Visa applicants part of a U.S government-sponsored program and their spouse and children
- Visa applicants travelling for charity purposes
How much is a permanent US visa?
The following fees are to be paid when applying for a permanent US visa:
- Immediate Relative and Family Preference Immigration Applications $325 in addition to the petition
- Employment-Based Immigration Applications $345 in addition to the petition
- Other immigration applications (such as self-petitioning) $205
- K visa for a fiancé or spouse of a U.S citizen $265
- Immigrant Petition for Relative $535
- Orphan Immediate Relative Petition $775
- Affidavit of Support $120 – payable by US citizen sponsors
Certain Afghan or Iraqi special immigrant applications have no fee.
How much are the US Diversity Visa fees?
The US Diversity Visa or Lottery application (‘sign-up’) is $330, payable before submitting the application online.
This article does not constitute direct legal advice and is for informational purposes only.
Author
Founder & Principal Attorney Nita Nicole Upadhye is a recognized leader in the field of US business immigration law (AILA) and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with both US and UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
Nita successfully acts for corporations and professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, actors, and athletes from across the globe, providing expert guidance on all aspects of US visa and nationality applications, and talent mobility to the USA.
Nita is an active public speaker, thought leader, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
