State Department publishes consular fee increases, increases will not take effect immediately

The U.S. State Department plans to publish a rule tomorrow, March 28, to increase consular fees for nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards for certain Mexican citizens.

Fee increases include:

• The application processing fee for non-petition based nonimmigrant visas (except E category) will be raised from $160 to $185. This represents a near 15.6% increase over the current fee, but is $60 or 24.5% below the original proposal of $245.
• The application processing fee for H, L, O, P, Q and R category NIVs, will be raised from $190 to $205. This represents a near 7.9% increase over the current fee, but is $105 or 33.9% below the original proposal of $310.
• The fee for E category NIVs will be raised from $205 to $315. This represents a near 53.7% increase over the current fee, but is $170 or 35% below the original proposal of $485.
• The processing fee for the Border Crossing Card for Mexican nationals ages 15 and over will be raised from $160 to $185. This represents a near 15.6% increase over the current fee, but is $60 or 24.5% below the original proposal of $245.

The Department previously proposed increasing the exchange visitor waiver of two-year residency requirement (J-Waiver fee). However, the fee will be kept at $120, instead of the proposed $510.

Additional Information: The rule is set to take effect 60 days after it is published. The State Department stated the increases will help ensure that “fees for providing these consular services better align with the costs of providing the services.” The consular fee increases are less dramatic than the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee increases.

BAL Analysis: The new consular fees will increase overall costs but are lower than what was originally proposed at the end of 2021. The State Department stated that it made the decision to recalculate the fees “before moving forward with the final rule to ensure that it did not implement fees in excess of its actual costs.” Current fees will remain in place until the effective date. BAL will continue following the rule and will provide updated information as it becomes available.

This alert has been provided by BAL U.S. Practice Group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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