Visit to US may cost you an extra $250

Millions of foreign visitors to the United States, including travellers from Mexico, India, Brazil and China, will be subject to anew $250 visa fee as part of a spate of changes introduced by the Trump administration’s recently enacted domestic policy law.

- NIA DECAILLE

The fee, which may be refundable, will apply to nonimmigrant visa categories, including foreign tourists, business travellers and students. It will not apply to most visitors from Canada or to visitors covered by the United States’ visa-waiver scheme, which includes much of Europe and a handful of countries in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere.

The tourism industry is bracing for the impact of the new fee. Even tourism leaders who supported the law’s aims to shore up US immigration rules balked at the fees as an unnecessary impediment to international travel. Concerns have also proliferated among international soccer fans in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Here’s what to know about the new fee.

WHO WILL PAY THE FEE?