Budget Law Imposes Nonimmigrant "Visa Integrity Fee"
Executive Summary. H.R.1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law on July 4, 2025, imposes a new "visa integrity fee" to be paid upon the issuance of any nonimmigrant visa. For fiscal year 2025, the fee will be set at the greater of $250 or an amount established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through regulation, with automatic annual adjustments for inflation beginning in fiscal year 2026. The fee may not be waived or reduced, and all revenues - except those reimbursed under specific conditions - are to be deposited into the U.S. Treasury’s general fund. A reimbursement can be authorized for nonimmigrants who comply fully with the terms of their visa, including avoiding unauthorized employment, and who either depart the United States promptly at the end of their authorized stay or obtain a lawful extension or adjustment of status.
NAFSA note: The budget bill also establishes other immigration fees. See NAFSA's page Budget Law Imposes New Immigration Fees.
Source. H.R.1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law on July 4, 2025, imposes a new "visa integrity fee" on all nonimmigrant visa applicants, to be paid upon issuance of a nonimmigrant visa. See TITLE X, Subtitle A, Part I, Section 100007, Visa Integrity Fee, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1, 119th Cong. (July 4, 2025).
Scope. The law levies the new visa integrity fee on "any alien issued a nonimmigrant visa at the time of such issuance." This would apply to the issuance of any nonimmigrant visa, including, for example, F-1 and F-2 visas, J-1 and J-2 visas, H-1B and H-4 visas, etc. The visa integrity fee will be paid in addition to the "machine readable visa" (MRV) visa application fee and any reciprocity fees that nonimmigrant visa applicants must already pay. Travelers to the United States who are not required to obtain a visa (for example, Visa Waiver Program entrants and most Canadian citizens) would not have to pay the fee since a visa is not being issued.
Amount. The initial visa integrity fee for fiscal year 2025 will be the greater of $250 or "such amount as the Secretary of Homeland Security may establish, by rule." The fee will then be adjusted annually for inflation starting in FY 2026 with reference to the Consumer Price Index.
Collection Mechanism. It is too early to say exactly how the fee will be collected. Although DHS sets the fee amount, the statute does not specify which agency collects it. Because the fee is tied to visa issuance, collection might occur through the Department of State, but since DHS would be responsible for reimbursing the fee the fee might be collected by DHS. We will have to wait and see. Fee revenue will be deposited into the U.S. Treasury's general fund.
Effective Date. The statute is effective as of the date it was signed into law, July 4, 2025, but time will be needed to implement the necessary collection mechanisms. It is not yet possible to pay the nonimmigrant visa integrity fee. A July 11, 2025 USCIS News Alert stated that "USCIS will soon begin to collect new fees for certain immigration benefit requests. We will provide details on the implementation of these fee changes in the coming days," but we do not yet know if that will include the visa integrity fee.
Fee Reimbursement. The fee may not be waived or reduced, but a fee reimbursement can be authorized for nonimmigrants who comply fully with the terms of their visa, including avoiding unauthorized employment, and who either depart the United States promptly at the end of their authorized stay or obtain a lawful extension of nonimmigrant status or adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.