3 days ago
White House Considers $1,000 Fee to Speed Up Tourist Visas, Memo Says
While fast tracking visitor visas would make travel easier for some travelers, it might not do much to solve the pressing issue of lengthy wait times for interviews.
The Trump administration is weighing a $1,000 fee for expedited visa interview appointments for tourists and other nonimmigrant applicants, according to a State Department memo obtained by Reuters.
The pilot could launch as soon as December. However, the agency's legal team said there was a "high risk" the proposed fee would be rejected by the White House budget office or struck down in U.S. courts, according to the memo. The memo said setting a fee higher than the cost to provide the service "is contrary to settled Supreme Court precedent."
Currently, nonimmigrant visa applicants pay a $185 processing fee.
"The Department's scheduling of nonimmigrant visa interview appointments is dynamic and we are continually working to improve our operations worldwide," a State Department spokesperson told Skift.
The State Department reported it issued 11.5 million nonimmigrant visas during the 2024 fiscal year, including 8.5 million visitor visas.
Reports of a possible $1,000 fee for an expedited visa interview come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the State Department was looking at ways to speed up the processing of visitor visas ahead of next summer's FIFA World Cup.
U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman said in February that the extended wait times for visa processing at U.S. offices abroad were a major deterrent to visiting the country. The organization reported last month that the average visa wait time for applicants from top inbound markets was 188 days in April.
