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The United States has introduced a new $750 fee for expedited B1/B2 visa interview appointments, allowing business and tourism applicants to secure an appointment within ten business days at selected overseas posts, the Department of State announced in a June 9 notice in the Federal Register.
The temporary final rule, effective July 1 through December 31, 2026, creates a fee-based mechanism for applicants seeking faster processing of nonimmigrant visa appointments.
“This service will be an optional premium addition to the standard NIV application fee and will be offered only to applicants at limited posts as published on travel.state.gov and in limited quantities,” the department said in a notice.
The service is being launched as a “proof-of-concept” to assess demand for fee-based expedited appointments.
The department said the $750 fee reflects the full cost of providing the service, calculated using an activity-based costing methodology.
The estimated annual number of applications for the pilot program is projected at 25,705, with expected fee collections of approximately $19.3 million.
In most cases, there are three avenues for an NIV applicant to request an expedited interview at no cost: referrals by senior U.S. government employees, priority appointment requests, and applicant-requested expedites for humanitarian reasons.
These resource-intensive methods “negatively affect the Department’s capacity to process all visa applications,” the department said.
The service will only be available to B1/B2 applicants and will be offered at limited overseas posts. Applicants must still meet all standard visa eligibility and processing requirements.
“An expedited visa appointment in no way guarantees visa issuance,” the department stated. The service will not expedite any processing steps, including administrative processing.
At the conclusion of the pilot, the department will analyse data to determine whether to continue offering the service and adjust the fee as needed.
