Apr 2 2012

New Interim Final Rule to Increase Application Fees for Consular Services

The Department of State has published an interim final rule to amend the Schedule of Fees for consular services for nonimmigrant visas application processing fees, border crossing card application processing fees and immigrant visa application processing fees. The interim final rule will increase the fee charged to process an application for most non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas and Border Crossing Card for Mexican citizens age 15 and over from $140 to $160. The rule will also amend application processing fees for certain categories of petition-base nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader and investor visas, and will also amend tiered application processing fees for immigrant visas. The rule will also increase the Border Crossing Card fee charged to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico (and whose parent already has a card or is applying for one) from $14 to $15.

These fees are being adjusted so that the Department of State can meet the costs of providing consular services; a recent finding revealed that the government is not fully covering its costs for processing these visas under the current fee structure. This interim final rule will become effective on April 13, 2012. Written comments must be received before May 30, 2012.