July 18 (UPI) — Many visitors to the United States will soon have to pay a $250 “visa integrity fee” to enter the country.
The fee was in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and applies to people from countries who need a nonimmigrant visa to enter. The fee will be added to any other visa application fees.
There are few details, which creates “significant challenges and unanswered questions regarding implementation,” a spokesperson from the U.S. Travel Association told CNBC Travel.
The new law includes fee hikes for those using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, and new charges for migrants arrested at the border.
It creates a $13 ESTA fee, and goes up to $5,000 for the arrests of undocumented people.
The visa integrity fee is set at $250 from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, but after that, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, is free to raise the fee.
The applicant will pay the fee when the visa is issued. If the visa is denied, the applicant doesn’t have to pay.
Steven A. Brown, a partner at immigration law firm Reddy Neumann Brown in Houston, said in a post on his firm’s website that it significantly raises prices for those coming into the United states to work.
“For example, an H-1B worker already paying a $205 application fee may now expect to pay a total of $455 once this fee is in place,” he said. There is also an I-94 form fee that the bill raised from $6 to $24.
He added that the law allows the government to give refunds of the visa integrity fee if the person follows all provisions of the visa. But it is unclear how, when and who decides that the refund will be issued.
“Until those procedures are announced, employers and foreign nationals should treat the $250 Visa Integrity Fee as a non-refundable upfront cost and plan accordingly,” Brown said.
Critics say the effect on tourism and workers coming to the United States could be heavy.
“Attaching an additional $250 fee has the very real potential to significantly reduce the number of people that can afford to do that,” Jorge Loweree, managing director of programs and strategy at the American Immigration Council, told USA Today.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people who receive visas and permission from the Department of State to come to the U.S. every single month temporarily.”
Tourism has already dipped this year, and travel experts call the fee a further detriment.
“Raising fees on lawful international visitors amounts to a self-imposed tariff on one of our nation’s largest exports: international travel spending,” Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, told Yahoo.
“These fees are not reinvested in improving the travel experience and do nothing but discourage visitation at a time when foreign travelers are already concerned about the welcome experience and high prices.”
