US visa fees: telling the two fees apart

The MRV application fee: non-refundable, paid either way

The State Department says the nonimmigrant visa application fee (the MRV fee) is a non-refundable fee paid by most U.S. visa applicants, whether the application is approved or refused, and covers the cost of processing the application.

Amounts vary by visa category and change over time (the last increase took effect June 17, 2023). The official fees page currently lists roughly: non-petition categories (B for business/tourism/medical, F, J, M, C-1, D, I, TN/TD) $185; petition-based (H, L, O, P, Q, R) $205; E (treaty trader/investor) $315; K (fiancé(e)/spouse of a U.S. citizen) $265. Always confirm the current amount on the official Fees for Visa Services page.

• MRV = a processing fee: non-refundable, not returned on refusal.
• Amount is by category and changes — go by the official fees page.
• A, G, C-2/3, NATO and diplomatic categories are generally exempt.

Source: Fees for Visa Services

The reciprocity (issuance) fee: separate, only for approvals, by nationality

The State Department says a reciprocity (visa issuance) fee may be charged in addition to the MRV fee. The principle is reciprocity: when a foreign government charges U.S. citizens for a visa category, the U.S. charges that country's citizens the equivalent for the same category.

The key difference: the MRV fee is paid up front by nearly everyone regardless of outcome, whereas the reciprocity fee is charged 'only to an approved nonimmigrant visa applicant after the visa interview,' at an amount set by nationality — look it up in the State Department's Reciprocity by Country table. So 'how much is a U.S. visa' has no single answer: first the MRV fee for your category, then any reciprocity fee for your nationality.

• The reciprocity fee is separate from the MRV fee, by reciprocity and nationality.
• Charged only to approved applicants, after the interview (MRV is paid up front).
• Look up the amount in the official Reciprocity by Country table.

Source: Fees for Visa Services · Reciprocity by Country

A third fee: the US$250 visa integrity fee (in law, not yet being collected)

Both fees above are collected by the State Department. There is a third one, created by a different statute and collected by the Department of Homeland Security — which is why it does not appear on the State Department's fee schedule. That is not an omission: each department publishes the fees it collects.

The statute: Public Law 119-21 §100007, signed on 4 July 2025 and noted as 8 U.S.C. 1806, says the Secretary of Homeland Security shall require a fee from any alien issued a nonimmigrant visa, at the time of that issuance. For fiscal year 2025 the amount is the greater of US$250 or such amount as DHS may establish by rule, adjusted for CPI every fiscal year from 2026 onward. The statute also states the fee shall not be waived or reduced. B1/B2 is a nonimmigrant visa and is within scope.

But as of the date this page was checked, it is not yet being collected. DHS said so plainly in its Federal Register notice of 22 July 2025: the fee "requires cross-agency coordination before implementing; the fee will be implemented in a future publication." Searching the Federal Register for the fee by name returns no rule or notice implementing it since.

What is still unsettled, and where this page will not substitute its own conclusion for an official one: whether the final amount stays at US$250, whether it is paid at application or at issuance, and how reimbursement will work. On reimbursement the statute says DHS may provide one, not that it shall, and the conditions are tight — after the visa's validity expires, the applicant must show they complied with every condition of the visa (including not accepting unauthorized employment) and either departed within 5 days of the last day of their admitted period, or were granted an extension or adjustment to permanent resident status.

This page deliberately does not give a combined 'application fee + integrity fee' total. The two are collected by different departments, at different points, and one of them is not in force yet; adding them together is the single easiest way to get the number wrong. Budget from the State Department fee page and from whatever DHS publishes, each on its own terms.

• The law is in force, but DHS has published no implementing notice — so a B1/B2 applicant is not paying this today.
• It is a DHS fee, not a State Department one; its absence from the State fee page is expected.
• The amount is 'the greater of US$250 or an amount DHS sets by rule', CPI-adjusted from FY2026 — not a fixed figure.
• Reimbursement is discretionary ('may'), and conditioned on departing within 5 days of the end of the admitted period.

Source: PL 119-21 §100007 · DHS Federal Register notice

Keep practice in its proper boundary

Fee amounts and whether a reciprocity fee applies are governed by the official fees page and the post where you apply; VisaIsle only offers mock-interview practice, does not collect fees, and cannot reduce or expedite them. Any claim of 'guaranteed approval' or 'insider fee discounts' is unrelated to the official process — rely on the travel.state.gov pages.

Source: Fees for Visa Services

What else do applicants ask?

What are the official numbers?

Every figure below was read from an official U.S. government page, not from experience or an agency's summary. Fees and rules change — before you actually pay or file, check the primary pages listed under the sources section. One row deliberately carries no number: the State Department has never published a fixed duration for administrative processing.

Every figure above was last checked against its source on 2026-08-27

Where are the official sources?

These are the primary sources this site cites — U.S. government pages and the statute text itself. Each one was opened and confirmed reachable on the date shown below. Wherever this site and an official page disagree, the official page is the one that counts.

• U.S. Department of State — Fees for Visa Services
• U.S. Department of State — Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country
• Public Law 119-21 §100007 — Visa Integrity Fee (statute text, govinfo.gov)
• DHS — USCIS Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 Reconciliation Bill (Federal Register, 2025-07-22)
• U.S. Department of State — Visitor Visa (B-1/B-2)The official statement of what B-1/B-2 does and does not permit, the application steps, and required documents.
• CEAC — Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160)The DS-160 form itself, and where the confirmation page is reprinted.
• USTravelDocs — appointments and fee payment (China)The official service for booking, rescheduling, paying and passport return; rules vary by the post where you apply.
• 8 U.S.C. §1184 — the statute behind a 214(b) refusalWhere the presumption of immigrant intent — the thing a 214(b) refusal actually applies — is written down.
• EVUS — Electronic Visa Update SystemWhere holders of a 10-year B1/B2 on a PRC passport enrol before travelling.
• 9 FAM 402.1 — Overview of NIV ClassificationsThe Foreign Affairs Manual consular officers work from — more detailed than the applicant-facing pages.

How do you turn this into something you can say at the window?

Reading the guide is the easy half. What decides the outcome is whether you can say the same facts out loud, in order, under time pressure, at the window. qianyu (签屿/VisaIsle) is an AI mock visa interviewer for the US B1/B2 visitor visa: it reads your DS-160, cross-checks it against your spoken answers and supporting documents to catch every inconsistency, and drills you with realistic 214(b)-style consular questioning at three difficulty levels. Credit packs are pay-as-you-go — ¥29.9 for 1 credit, ¥59.9 for 3 — and new users get 1 free training credit on sign-up.

What should you read next?

Neighbouring questions on the same application path, in roughly the order you are likely to hit them: