US Visa Fees and Costs in 2026: Full Breakdown by Category

A US visa application has several stacked fees: an MRV fee paid to the State Department for consular processing, USCIS filing fees for petitions filed inside the United States, biometrics fees for fingerprinting, optional premium processing fees for faster adjudication, plus indirect costs like photos, translations, and travel to the consulate. Most non-immigrant categories fall in the low triple digits, while immigrant petitions can reach four figures once you include the I-485 or DS-260 filing.

This guide is informational and not legal advice. Verify the current rules on the official USCIS or travel.state.gov page linked at the end.

US visa costs split into five fee categories, and you usually pay more than one for a single application:

• MRV fee (Machine Readable Visa): paid to the State Department for consular processing of every non-immigrant visa. It is non-refundable, valid one year from payment, and tied to a specific applicant on a specific consulate.
• USCIS filing fee: paid to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for petitions or adjustment applications filed inside the United States. Examples include I-130 (family petition), I-140 (employment petition), I-485 (adjustment), I-765 (work authorization), I-131 (advance parole), I-90 (green card renewal), and N-400 (naturalization).
• Biometrics fee: a separate fingerprinting and photo capture fee, charged for most USCIS filings and for visa applicants at the Visa Application Center.
• Premium processing fee: optional fee that guarantees adjudication within 15 to 45 business days for many USCIS petitions. It does not change the outcome, only the speed.
• Issuance and reciprocity fee: a small fee some nationalities pay after approval, mirroring what their country charges US travelers. The State Department publishes a reciprocity schedule by country.

USCIS publishes its fee schedule on Form G-1055 and updates it after notice and comment rulemaking. State Department MRV fees appear at travel.state.gov and adjust periodically. Always check the official source before paying, because cached fees in third-party guides go stale within weeks of a fee revision.

Non-immigrant categories pay tiered MRV fees that group similar visa types together. The fee tiers (with the categories that fall into each) are:

• Tier 1 (lowest): B1, B2, F1, M1, J1, C, D, I. Tourist, student, exchange, transit, crew, and journalist categories. This is where most travelers pay.
• Tier 2 (petition-based): H1B, H2A, H2B, H3, L1, O, P, Q, R. Work visas requiring an approved USCIS petition first. The MRV fee tier is higher because consular processing is more involved.
• Tier 3 (treaty): E1, E2, E3. Treaty trader, treaty investor, and Australian specialty occupation. The highest non-immigrant MRV tier because of the substantial evidence review.
• K1 (fiance): special MRV fee tier that sits between treaty and petition-based, reflecting its hybrid immigrant-style processing.

For petition-based categories you also pay the USCIS filing fee for I-129 (paid by the employer), which dwarfs the consular MRV. H1B in particular layers the registration fee (paid at the lottery stage), the I-129 filing fee, the ACWIA training fee, the fraud prevention fee, and the Public Law 114-113 fee for certain large employers. Premium processing is optional but commonly used to lock the start date.

F1 students pay the I-901 SEVIS fee in addition to the MRV fee, and the SEVIS fee must be paid before the consular interview. Receipts are checked at the interview, so save the confirmation page.

Each dependent (H4, L2, F2, etc.) files a separate DS-160 and pays a separate MRV fee. There is no family discount on consular fees, only on petition fees in some categories.

Immigrant visa and green card filings stack fees across multiple agencies. A typical marriage-based green card filed inside the US (Adjustment of Status) involves:

• I-130: USCIS filing fee for the family petition.
• I-485: USCIS filing fee for the adjustment of status application. This is the largest single line item in most family-based packages.
• I-765: optional work authorization application, often bundled into I-485 fee under current USCIS rules.
• I-131: optional advance parole travel document, also often bundled.
• Biometrics fee: for fingerprints and photo.
• Medical exam: paid out of pocket to a USCIS-designated civil surgeon (typically a few hundred dollars).

If you pursue consular processing instead, the cost profile changes: you pay an I-130 USCIS fee, a State Department DS-260 application fee per applicant, an Affidavit of Support fee, and a USCIS immigrant fee after visa issuance and before entering the United States. The medical exam fee still applies, paid to the consulate's panel physician.

Employment-based green cards add I-140 (USCIS filing fee per beneficiary), potential PERM costs (usually paid by the employer, including recruitment), and EB-5 categories add hefty investment-related fees on top.

The Diversity Visa requires the DV lottery entry (free during the entry window) and then the standard DV processing fee per applicant at consular processing. There is no USCIS petition step because DV is its own selection mechanism.

Premium processing is an optional USCIS service that guarantees adjudication of certain petitions within 15 business days (or 45 business days for some categories). It does not affect outcome, only timeline. USCIS adds petitions to the premium processing list each year. As of 2026 the list includes I-129 (H1B, H2B, H3, L, O, P, Q, R), I-140 (EB-1A, EB-1B, EB-1C, EB-2 non-NIW, EB-2 NIW, EB-3), I-539 (change of non-immigrant status for F-1 derivatives and some others), and I-765 for F-1 OPT.

It is worth paying for premium processing when:

• Employment start dates are firm: H1B cap cases facing October 1 start dates routinely use premium processing.
• Travel windows are tight: an L1 transfer needing approval before a planned international trip.
• RFE response timelines are short: premium processing pauses for RFEs and resumes when you respond, so a tight response window combined with premium keeps the timeline predictable.
• EB-1 and EB-2 NIW self-petitioners: premium processing is the only way to get a same-fiscal-year approval that aligns with priority date movement.

It is usually not worth paying for premium processing when:

• You are early in the process and the visa bulletin or consular calendar is the binding constraint.
• You are filing I-485, which is not eligible for premium processing.
• The petition has weak evidence and would benefit from longer review and an RFE rather than a fast denial.

Premium processing buys speed at USCIS, not at the consulate. Even after a 15-day approval, you still need to wait for consular interview slots if you are doing consular processing.

The fees that catch applicants off guard are usually the indirect ones:

• Photos: studios charge roughly fifteen to twenty US dollars for a passport-style photo. Most applicants need at least two for each application stage (DS-160 digital, interview backup print, I-485 print). Validated online tools cut this to a few dollars per print plus free digital export.
• Translations: any non-English document must be accompanied by a certified English translation. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, school transcripts, and police clearance certificates all need translation. Costs run twenty to fifty US dollars per document depending on language and certification format.
• Courier and mailing: passport return often requires a prepaid courier envelope. Many countries also require courier delivery for biometrics scheduling letters.
• Travel to the consulate: domestic flights, hotels, ground transport, and time off work for biometrics and interview appointments. Applicants in geographically large countries (India, China, Brazil) often spend more on travel than on the visa fees themselves.
• Attorney fees: voluntary but common in complex cases (employment-based, asylum, marriage cases with prior issues, waivers). Fees range widely.
• Dependents: spouses and children pay their own MRV, USCIS, biometrics, medical exam, and photo costs. A family of four can easily reach 4x the cost of a single applicant.
• Re-submission: a failed photo, missing document, or rejected fee payment can trigger re-submission costs and another wait cycle.

Budget these into your visa total at the start. A B1/B2 single applicant might pay roughly twice the MRV fee once photos, translations, and travel are included.

You cannot waive most US visa fees, but you can reduce the total bill with a few practical moves:

• File online when available: USCIS online filings often qualify for slightly lower fees and faster receipt notices. Online I-90, N-400, and I-765 filings save courier and printing costs too.
• Use validated photo tools: a studio photo can cost fifteen to twenty US dollars per session, while a compliant photo from a validated online tool can be a few dollars per print plus an unlimited free digital export. See our photo validator to check the file before you pay for a print.
• Apply for fee waivers when eligible: Form I-912 lets some low-income applicants waive specific USCIS fees, including N-400 in many cases. Documented hardship or means-tested benefits qualify.
• Batch dependents: filing dependent I-485s with the principal usually saves on biometrics scheduling and on the medical exam (panel physicians often discount family appointments).
• Confirm dropbox eligibility: dropbox visa renewals skip the interview, reducing travel to the consulate.
• Pay MRV in local currency: when allowed, paying in local currency through the country's designated bank often costs slightly less than the USD equivalent due to exchange margins.
• Skip premium processing when speed is not binding: premium processing is expensive and only useful when a deadline is real.
• Avoid re-filing: triple-check forms, photos, and supporting documents before submission. A re-filed application costs the full fee again.

Photos are a line item most applicants underestimate. Each application stage typically needs its own fresh photo: DS-160 digital upload, interview backup print, I-485 USCIS-style print, EAD application, and the consular DS-260 digital photo. Multiply by every family member and the total climbs fast. Validate every photo before printing or upload with our photo validator, and review the category-specific rules on the US visa photo page so you do not pay twice for a non-compliant print.