The Department of State has published an interim final rule to amend the
Schedule of Fees for consular services for nonimmigrant visas
application processing fees, border crossing card application processing
fees and immigrant visa application processing fees. The interim final
rule will increase the fee charged to process an application for most
non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas and Border Crossing Card for
Mexican citizens age 15 and over from $140 to $160. The rule will also
amend application processing fees for certain categories of
petition-base nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader and investor visas,
and will also amend tiered application processing fees for immigrant
visas. The rule will also increase the Border Crossing Card fee charged
to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico (and whose parent already
has a card or is applying for one) from $14 to $15.
These fees are being adjusted so that the Department of State can meet
the costs of providing consular services; a recent finding revealed that
the government is not fully covering its costs for processing these
visas under the current fee structure. This interim final rule will
become effective on April 13, 2012. Written comments must be received
before May 30, 2012.
