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ICYMI: US Embassy to increase application fees for tourist, student visas this June

By John Patrick Magno Ranara Published Jun 08, 2023 4:41 pm

If you're planning to pack your bags for a trip to the United States soon, then you may need to cough up more money than usual as the US Embassy in the Philippines is set to increase its application fees for tourist and student visas.

According to a release, the increase will be implemented on June 17 and will affect a number of non-immigrant visa applications.

Now, visitor visas for temporary business or tourism (B1/B2s) and other non-petition based non-immigrant visas, such as student and exchange visitor visas, will have a fee of $185 (P10,387) from the previous $160 (P8,983).

Application fees for certain petition-based non-immigrant visas will also get an increase. These are for temporary workers in the H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories, where the charge has surged from $190 (P10,668) to $205 (P11,510). 

Those who will be applying for a treaty trader or treaty investor (E category) visa will also be affected, with fees increasing from $205 (P11,510) to $315 (P17,686).

Aside from these, the embassy stated that other consular fees remain the same, including the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors.

If you have already paid for a visa application that is currently valid and non-expired, but have not yet appeared for their visa interview or are waiting for their case to be processed, the embassy assures you that it will not be charged additional fees.

The hike comes as the government of Canada has allowed passport holders from 13 countries, the Philippines included, to visit the country with an electronic travel authorization instead of a travel visa, provided that they have held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or currently hold a valid US non-immigrant visa.