Updated November 11, 2026

Visa application fee for the US: consular and USCIS fees

The standard visa application fee for a US visitor, business, or student visa is the non-petition rate shown in the schedule below. If your visa requires an approved petition or involves permanent residence, you or your sponsor will also pay separate filing fees to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before or after your consular interview. All US government visa and filing fees are nonrefundable, regardless of the decision on your application.

Complete US visa application fee and USCIS filing schedule

Two federal agencies collect fees during the US visa process. The Department of State collects consular visa application processing fees when you apply for a visa stamp at a US embassy or consulate abroad under 22 CFR 22.1. USCIS collects petition, adjustment of status, and green card processing fees under 8 CFR 106.2 and Form G-1055.

Every dollar amount from both schedules appears in the table below. Outside this table, fees are described in words so that all figures remain in one central reference.

Fees from ecfr.gov, uscis.gov, and federalregister.gov, as of November 2026

Consular nonimmigrant visa application fees

When applying for a temporary visa at a US embassy or consulate, each applicant pays the machine-readable visa application processing fee shown in the table above. The Department of State sets these rates to recover the cost of consular services under an activity-based costing method. The application fee is the same regardless of whether your visa is approved for one year or ten years, or for a single entry or multiple entries.

Nonimmigrant visas fall into four main tiers under 22 CFR 22.1:

Depending on your nationality and visa classification, you may also need to pay a reciprocity issuance fee after your interview if your visa is approved. Certain travelers are exempt from both application and issuance fees, including individuals on diplomatic, NATO, A, G, and C-3 visas, participants in US government-sponsored J exchange programs, and US government employees traveling on duty.

• Standard non-petition visas: Visitors for business or tourism (B1/B2), students (F and M), and exchange visitors (J) pay the standard non-petition rate in the table above. Mexican citizens age 15 and older applying for a 10-year Border Crossing Card pay the same rate, while qualifying Mexican children under age 15 pay the reduced minor rate.
• Petition-based worker visas: Temporary workers in the H, L, O, P, Q, and R classifications pay the petition-based worker rate per person at the consulate after USCIS approves the employer's petition. Principal applicants applying under a Blanket L petition also pay the Blanket L fraud prevention and detection fee at the embassy window.
• Fiancé(e) visas: Fiancé(e)s of US citizens pay the K-category consular rate per person after USCIS approves Form I-129F.
• Treaty trader and investor visas: E-category applicants pay the treaty trader and investor rate per person, reflecting the extensive document review required for trade and investment enterprises.

Adjustment of status and change of status fees inside the US

If you are already inside the United States in lawful status and apply for permanent residence without departing, you file Form I-485 with USCIS rather than paying Department of State consular fees. Under USCIS regulations, biometric services costs are included in the base Form I-485 fee. A reduced rate applies to children under 14 who file concurrently with a parent's Form I-485.

USCIS requires separate filing fees when requesting an employment authorization card on Form I-765 or advance parole travel document on Form I-131 alongside Form I-485. If you paid the full Form I-485 fee and that application remains pending, you pay the reduced work permit rate listed in the table above.

To extend a temporary stay or switch to another nonimmigrant category from within the United States (such as changing from a B-2 visitor to an F-1 student), you submit Form I-539 to USCIS and pay the paper or online filing rate in the table above before your authorized stay on Form I-94 expires. Travelers admitted under the Visa Waiver Program, transit travelers on C visas, crew members on D visas, fiancé(e)s on K visas, and informants on S visas cannot use Form I-539 to change status.

Employer petition fees for work visas (H-1B, L-1, O-1, and I-140)

For temporary and permanent employment visas, US employers pay USCIS petition fees that are separate from the employee's consular visa application fee. Under USCIS regulations, Form I-129 fees vary by employment classification and by the size of the petitioning organization.

Small employers (defined by USCIS as entities with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, including affiliates and subsidiaries) and qualifying nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) organizations, not-for-profit educational institutions, and governmental research organizations) pay reduced Form I-129 and Asylum Program rates.

Depending on the employment category, an employer's USCIS filing package includes:

• H-1B cap registration: Submitted per beneficiary through the electronic registration tool before a cap-subject petition can be filed. This registration charge applies whether or not the beneficiary is selected.
• Base petition fee: Form I-129 base fees follow the classification breakdown in the table above, with reduced rates for small employers and nonprofits.
• Asylum Program Fee: Paid on every Form I-129, Form I-129CW, and Form I-140 to fund asylum operations. Small employers pay half the standard Asylum Program Fee, while qualifying nonprofits pay nothing.
• Statutory fraud, ACWIA, and 9-11 Response fees: Certain H-1B, L, H-2B, and CW-1 petitions require the Fraud Detection and Prevention Fee, the ACWIA fee, and, for employers with 50 or more US workers where more than half hold H-1B or L-1 status, the 9-11 Response fee.
• No stacking of online and entity reductions: USCIS rules specify that the online filing reduction does not apply to small employer and nonprofit rates on Form I-129 or Form I-129CW, nor to the Asylum Program Fee or the H-1B registration fee.

Worked examples: calculating your total government fee

Because an immigration case often involves multiple forms across both agencies, evaluating a single fee in isolation can lead to an incomplete budget. Below are three common situations showing how the fees in the table above combine, by our calculation from the eCFR and USCIS schedules.

• Spouse of a US citizen immigrating from abroad (consular processing): The US citizen petitioner files Form I-130 online, which costs less than paper filing. After approval, the National Visa Center collects the domestic Affidavit of Support review fee and the immediate relative immigrant visa processing fee. Following the embassy interview, the immigrant spouse pays the USCIS Immigrant Fee online for Green Card production. Combining those four items from the table above provides the total government cost for an adult spouse immigrating from abroad.
• Spouse of a US citizen adjusting status inside the United States (concurrent paper package): Because Form I-485 is submitted on paper, an applicant filing Form I-130 concurrently with Form I-485 in a single mailed package files both on paper (unless Form I-130 was filed online first and the Form I-797 receipt is attached). For a package containing Form I-130, Form I-485 (age 14 or older), the reduced-rate Form I-765 work authorization, and Form I-131 travel document, the filer submits four separate payment authorizations corresponding to each fee in the table above.
• Cap-subject H-1B worker hired from abroad: The employer first submits the H-1B cap registration fee. If selected in the lottery, the employer files Form I-129 with the H-1B base petition fee, the Asylum Program Fee, the Fraud Detection and Prevention Fee, and the ACWIA fee (using the small employer or nonprofit rate if eligible). After USCIS approves the petition, the worker applies at the US consulate and pays the petition-based worker visa fee in the table above.

How to pay USCIS and consular fees without a rejection

Submitting an incorrect payment method or amount leads to an immediate rejection of your filing package. Follow this checklist to ensure your payments are processed smoothly:

• Do not mail checks or money orders to USCIS: USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, cashier's checks, or money orders for paper-filed forms unless you qualify for an exemption and attach a signed Form G-1651. Cash is never accepted.
• Use Form G-1450 or Form G-1650 for mail-in USCIS forms: Authorize payment by credit, debit, or prepaid card issued by a US bank using Form G-1450, or authorize an ACH bank debit from a US bank account using Form G-1650. Foreign cards and foreign bank accounts are not accepted.
• Submit a separate payment authorization for each form: When mailing multiple forms in one envelope (such as Form I-130, Form I-485, and Form I-765), attach a separate Form G-1450 or Form G-1650 to each form. A single combined payment causes the entire package to be rejected if one form has a defect.
• Do not mix payment instruments in the same package: Never combine Form G-1450 (card) and Form G-1650 (ACH) in the same package. You may divide a single form's fee across multiple US cards using multiple G-1450 forms, or across multiple bank accounts using multiple G-1650 forms, as long as the payment type is identical and the amounts total the exact fee.
• Clear bank ACH debit blocks: If paying via Form G-1650 from an account with debit blocks, provide your bank with the USCIS Agency Location Code to whitelist the charge: 7001010330 (Phoenix/Tempe), 7001010331 (Dallas/Lewisville), 7001010335 (Chicago), 7001010390 (Elgin/Carol Stream), 700101031F (Montclair, CA), or 700101031J (Bloomington, MN).
• Maintain available funds: If a card charge fails, USCIS will not attempt a second charge and will reject the filing. If an ACH debit fails for insufficient funds, USCIS attempts the transaction once more. Any other failure results in immediate rejection.
• Complete online filings through the online portal: When filing or paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee online, the portal routes you to the Department of the Treasury's online payment portal. A family member, friend, employer, or attorney may complete payment on your behalf.

Practice example

Who is paying for your trip to the United States, and how will you cover all of your expenses while you are there?

A strong, honest answer states in one or two sentences exactly who is funding the trip or study program, what that person does for a living, and their annual income or available savings. If you are paying for yourself, name your job, your monthly or yearly salary, and the savings you have set aside for the trip. If a parent, relative, or employer is covering your expenses, state your relationship to them, their occupation, and why they are paying. Make sure the person you name at the window matches the sponsor or payer listed on your Form DS-160 (and your Form I-20 if you are an F-1 or M-1 student). Have your visa application fee receipt in your folder along with bank statements, salary slips, tax returns, or scholarship and loan letters so you can hand them over in seconds if the officer asks to see proof.

The consular officer is checking that you have enough real, readily available money to cover your stay without working illegally in the United States, and that your spoken answer matches your DS-160 application.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.