In the coming weeks, the United States is adding a new $250 “visa integrity fee” for visitors who require visas. We first learned about this several weeks back, as it was buried in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” but we now have more details of the implementation.
Millions of US visitors face hefty “visa integrity fee”
As of October 1, 2025, the United States will introduce a new $250 “visa integrity fee,” which is supposed to apply to all visitors who come to the United States on non-immigrant visas, so that includes tourists, international students, and business travelers. In 2023, the United States issued more than 10 million of these visas, just for context.
Let me emphasize that this is specifically for those visiting on visas, so those coming from visa waiver countries wouldn’t have to pay this. This would apply to those requesting tourist visas from countries like Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, etc.
This new “visa integrity fee” is in addition to all the other types of fees that already exist when applying for visas. With this, the total cost of applying for a visa will be $424, among the highest in the world.
So, what is this new “visa integrity fee?” The idea is that the fee is essentially a “deposit,” of sorts, to make sure you behave while you’re in the United States. Visa holders who are subject to the fee may later be reimbursed, as long as they comply with their visa’s restrictions, like leaving the United States before the visa expires, and not working without authorization.
The United States hasn’t yet finalized how travelers will be refunded. Furthermore, keep in mind that some visas are valid for up to 10 years (and multiple entries), and travelers wouldn’t be eligible for a refund until their visa expires.
The United States is also raising the Form I-94 fee from $6 to $24, and adding a new $100 fee for asylum seekers. My goodness, the United States sure is turning into an ultra low cost carrier!
What impact will this fee have on tourism to the US?
Essentially, the United States will be holding a $250 deposit from roughly 10 million visitors annually. If the goal is to make sure people follow the rules while in the United States (which I can understand), then it doesn’t seem like potentially paying a $250 penalty will be a sufficient deterrent to not violate the rules. Like, that’s less than the fee you could face if your car is towed.
If someone wants to overstay their visa or work while in the United States, I don’t think the $250 fee will do much to impact their behavior. Is the intent here simply to try to deter non-rich tourists from visiting?
That says nothing of the logistics of this. So far, the United States has explained how the fee will be collected, but hasn’t yet published how the fee will be refunded, for those who don’t violate any rules. That’s obviously a major question, and I can’t imagine that handling refunds for 10 million people per year is going to be a terribly seamless process.
This new fee comes amid a larger tourism slump in the United States. Initially, 2025 was supposed to be the year where the United States broke its pre-pandemic record of 79.4 million inbound visitors. However, that’s not how the situation has played out.
For example, in July 2025, we saw a 3.1% decrease in year-over-year visitors, making it the fifth month of the year where we saw a decline in visitors. The World Travel & Tourism Council has projected that international visitor spending in the United States will fall to $169 billion this year, down from $181 billion last year.
This new “visa integrity fee” is expected to hit countries from Central and South America the hardest, which have actually been countries where we’ve seen an increase in tourism year-over-year. For example, visits from Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, have all been up considerably this year, but I suspect these new fees may act as a deterrent.
Bottom line
As of October 2025, the United States is adding a new $250 “visa integrity fee” for foreign visitors who require a visa for the United States. The intent is that if you follow all the rules in the country, you’ll get a refund when your visa expires (some are valid for up to a decade). While we now have all the details of how this is being implemented, we don’t yet know how the refund process will work.
Tourism in the United States is already declining considerably, with a year-over-year reduction in spending of over $10 billion. I imagine that this new fee will put even more of a damper on tourism to the United States, especially from countries that actually have seen tourism growth in recent times.
What do you make of this new “visa integrity fee?”
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