US Visa Application Fees Explained

Figuring out what a US visa application actually costs is more complicated than it should be, thanks largely to a proposed new fee that’s been widely reported but, as of this writing, isn’t actually being charged yet. This guide breaks down the real, current application fee by category, how and where to pay it, and gives an honest, source-based answer on where the $250 “Visa Integrity Fee” actually stands.

2026 Visa Application (MRV) Fees by Category

According to the US Department of State’s official fee schedule, current fees are:

Visa Category	Covers	2026 Fee
B1/B2	Tourism, business meetings, conferences, family/friend visits	$185
C-1	Transit through the US	$185
D	Airline and ship crew	$185
F, M	Academic and vocational study	$185
J	Exchange programs, Work and Travel (non-government-sponsored)	$185
H, L, O, P, Q, R	Petition-based work categories	$205
E-1/E-2	Treaty trader / investor	$315
K	Fiancé(e) or spouse of a US citizen	$265
J (government-sponsored)	Official US government exchange programs	No fee

These fees cover the application itself and your interview slot — there’s no separate or expedited appointment charge on top of them.

None of These Fees Are Refundable

Whatever the outcome of your application, the fee is not returned. If you’re refused and choose to reapply, you’ll pay the full fee again in full — there’s no discount for a second attempt.

Who Doesn’t Have to Pay

A narrow list of categories is exempt from the application fee entirely:

• A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO, and diplomatic visa categories
• Participants in US government-sponsored educational and cultural exchange programs (a subset of J visas)
• Cases where a visa must be reissued due to an error not caused by the applicant
• Certain international organization staff and their immediate family, and applicants traveling for designated charitable purposes
• Non-citizen US government employees traveling on official duty, and in some cases their family members

Standard B1/B2, F1, and most other common categories don’t fall under any of these exemptions.

How and Where to Pay

Payment method varies by country — you’ll pay through your consulate’s official appointment system, whichever one applies where you’re applying. In Turkey, that’s USTravelDocs, and payment is online with a Mastercard-branded credit card, or in cash at a Garanti BBVA branch. Wherever you’re applying, you can’t book an interview appointment until payment is confirmed in the system, and a completed payment stays valid for 365 days, giving you a year to schedule and attend your interview before it expires.

The $250 “Visa Integrity Fee”: What’s Actually True

This is the part of US visa fees that causes the most confusion, so it’s worth being precise. In mid-2025, Congress passed federal legislation — H.R.1, Section 100007, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — authorizing a new $250 “Visa Integrity Fee” for nonimmigrant visa holders, on top of the standard application fee above.

Here’s the honest current status: as of this writing, the fee is not being collected. It does not appear as a line item on the State Department’s current published fee schedule, and implementing it requires the Department of Homeland Security to issue formal guidance — covering exactly when collection starts, how it’s processed, and how refunds would work — which has not yet been published. Independent policy trackers following the rollout report the same thing: the fee is authorized in law but pending the inter-agency coordination needed to actually charge anyone.

As designed by the legislation, the fee would be collected when your visa is issued, not at the DS-160 stage, and would potentially be refundable for applicants who comply with their visa’s terms — for example, departing the US before their authorized stay expires. But since collection hasn’t begun, none of that mechanism has actually been tested in practice yet.

We haven’t seen a credible, officially-sourced confirmation of a country-specific exemption for any nationality, Turkish citizens included — if you’ve come across a claim that your nationality is exempt, treat it cautiously and verify it directly with an official source before relying on it. Because this is actively evolving, confirm the current status through your own consulate’s official channels — in Turkey, that’s USTravelDocs or the US Embassy in Ankara — shortly before you apply, and we’ll update this guide as the situation develops.

Other Costs to Budget For

Beyond the application fee itself, a couple of smaller costs are easy to overlook:

• Delivery/courier fees for having your passport returned to you, which vary by city and delivery method.
• SEVIS fees for F1, M1, and most J1 applicants — a separate charge from the MRV fee, covered in detail in our F1 visa interview guide.

Questions About What You’ll Actually Pay?

Fee categories and exemptions can be easy to misread, especially with a new, not-yet-active fee generating so many conflicting headlines. Request a free pre-assessment and we’ll walk you through exactly what applies to your specific case.