Effective April 13, 2012, the US Department of State will adjust visa processing fees.
APA reports quoting US Department of State that the fees for most
nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase,
while all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.
The Department is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of
processing visas through the collection of application fees. For a
number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of
processing nonimmigrant visas. The nonimmigrant visa fee increase will
support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as
additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.
From April 13, the fees for tourist, business, transit, crew member,
student, exchange visitor, and journalist visas will increase from USD
140 to USD 160, petition-based visas (H, L, O, P, Q, and R) from USD 150
to USD 190.
Because of a reallocation of costs associated with immigrant visas, all
categories of immigrant visa processing fees will decrease. The fees for
Immediate Relative and Family Preference Applications visa decreased
from USD 330 to USD 230, the fees for employment-based applications visa
decreased from USD 720 to USD 405.