US raises visa fee for Pakistani applicants. The US government has announced a cost increase for various categories of Pakistani visa applicants.
The US embassy in Islamabad announced on Wednesday that the new charge for various visa categories would increase starting on June 17 of this year.
The cost of visitor visas and other non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas (NIVs) will increase from $160 to $185, according to the U.S. embassy. The payments for petition-based visas, such as those in the H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories, will also rise from $190 to $205.
As the US raises visa fee for Pakistani applicants, additionally, applicants for E visas may expect a significant fee increase starting on June 17th, when the current fee of $205 will increase to $315.
According to information provided by the authorities, all payments for nonimmigrant visa application fees (also known as the MRV fee) made on or after October 1, 2022, are valid for 365 days starting from the day a receipt for payment of the MRV charge is issued.
The embassy instructed the applicants to only arrange their interview or submit their waiver application during the 365-day timeframe, stating on its website that “Applicants must schedule an interview appointment or submit an interview waiver application during this 365-day period.”
It has been made clear by the embassy that there is no requirement that the interview takes place inside the 365-day window.
According to the notice, “All receipts for payment of MRV fees issued before October 1, 2022, were extended until September 30, 2023, and remain valid until this date.”
Following consideration, the US Department of State declared an increase in the visa fee in March. The State Department stated that Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology is used to determine the cost of providing consular services, including visa services, and that the fees for the majority of non-petition-based NIVs were last updated in 2012, while certain other NIV fees were last modified in 2014.
Although the proposed costs were based on a 10-year average of previous and forecast usage, the Department warned that the travel environment may alter significantly, as it did during the pandemic.
The Department of State claimed in the Final Rule that it received 328 comments in all, 94 of which were duplicates, and included topics like how the increase may affect foreign education and how it might cause students to leave the country.
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