New $250 Visa Integrity Fee: Which Work Visas It Hits and What It Means for H-1B, L-1, O-1 and TN
A new $250 fee now applies at visa issuance for H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN and more, stacked on top of every other 2026 fee increase.
If you are booking a visa stamping appointment this fall, the total due at the counter is higher than what you paid last time, and it is not a mistake. Since October 1, 2025, a new $250 Visa Integrity Fee has applied to most nonimmigrant visa issuances, and it stacks on top of the application fee you already knew about. If you are on H-1B, L-1, O-1 or TN status, here is exactly which fee applies to you, how the math adds up, and what is still unresolved about getting any of it back.
Status as of September 13, 2026: the $250 Visa Integrity Fee has been in effect since October 1, 2025, and is collected at visa issuance. It is separate from the unrelated $100,000 H-1B fee, which remains vacated and unenforceable in federal court as of this writing. Reimbursement mechanics for the Visa Integrity Fee are still undefined and applied inconsistently by post. Treat every number below as current at publication and confirm the live fee schedule before you pay.
What the Visa Integrity Fee actually is
The Visa Integrity Fee was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, and it took effect October 1, 2025. It is a flat $250 charge collected when a consular officer issues your nonimmigrant visa — not when you apply, not when your petition is approved, but at the moment the visa stamp goes into your passport.
Three things make it different from every other visa fee you have paid:
- It cannot be waived. Unlike some MRV fee exemptions negotiated under reciprocity agreements, this fee applies regardless of your country of nationality or the type of nonimmigrant visa you are getting stamped, as long as your category is covered.
- It stacks, it does not replace. You still pay the standard nonimmigrant visa application (MRV) fee for your category. The Visa Integrity Fee is charged in addition to that, not instead of it.
- It is indexed to inflation starting in 2026. The $250 figure is the statutory base amount; by law it is scheduled to adjust for inflation going forward, so do not assume $250 is a fixed number for every future year. Check the current published amount on travel.state.gov before you pay.
Which visas the fee applies to
Based on OBBBA and the categories named in Department of State and USCIS guidance, the Visa Integrity Fee applies to most nonimmigrant visa issuances, including the categories in the table below.
| Visa category | Typical use | Visa Integrity Fee applies |
|---|---|---|
| B-1/B-2 | Business or tourist visitor | Yes |
| F-1 | Academic student | Yes |
| H-1B, H-4 | Specialty occupation worker and dependents | Yes |
| L-1A, L-1B | Intracompany transfer | Yes |
| O-1, O-3 | Extraordinary ability and dependents | Yes |
| TN | USMCA professional (Canada/Mexico) | Yes |
| E-1, E-2, E-3 | Treaty trader/investor, Australian specialty occupation | Yes |
| J-1 | Exchange visitor | Yes |
If you hold a category not shown here, do not assume either way — confirm on the official fee page rather than guessing, since this list reflects only the categories confirmed in current guidance.
How the fee stacks with other 2026 changes
This is the part that catches people off guard: the $250 Visa Integrity Fee is not the only cost that moved in the last twelve months. Three separate fee changes are now layered on top of each other, and it helps to see them side by side.
| Fee | Old amount | New amount | Effective date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa Integrity Fee (new) | Did not exist | $250 | October 1, 2025 |
| MRV application fee — H, L, O, P, Q, R | $190 | $205 | May 30, 2026 |
| MRV application fee — B, TN, F (non-petition) | — | $185 | Current as of 2026 |
| MRV application fee — E category | — | $315 | Current as of 2026 |
| USCIS Form I-907 premium processing | $2,805 | $2,965 | March 1, 2026 |
Put together, an H-1B worker stamping a visa abroad in late 2026 is paying the $205 MRV fee plus the $250 Visa Integrity Fee at the consulate — $455 just for the visa stamp itself — on top of whatever premium processing or petition-stage fees the employer covered earlier in the process. An L-1 or O-1 applicant sees the same $205-plus-$250 stack at the consular window. A TN applicant, who pays the lower $185 non-petition-based MRV fee, still owes the same $250 Visa Integrity Fee on top, since TN is explicitly on the covered list.
Old rule vs new rule vs what to do differently
| Before October 2025 | Now (2026) | What to do differently | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consular visa cost | MRV fee only | MRV fee + $250 Visa Integrity Fee | Budget an extra $250 per visa stamp, per applicant, including dependents |
| Fee waivers | Reciprocity-based exemptions existed for some countries | Visa Integrity Fee cannot be waived for anyone | Do not expect a country-specific exemption to cover this new charge |
| Getting money back | Not applicable | Reimbursement is contemplated by statute but undefined in practice | Do not count on a refund; confirm current mechanics with your consulate before assuming |
Where and how the fee is actually collected
The fee is paid at the visa issuance step, at a US embassy or consulate abroad — not with your I-129 petition, and not through a SEVIS or USCIS fee portal. A simplified sequence:
- Your employer (for H-1B, L-1) or you directly (for O-1 self-petition scenarios, TN) files or prepares the underlying case.
- You schedule a visa interview at the US consulate in your country of nationality or legal residence — note that third-country stamping (applying somewhere other than your home country) ended September 6, 2025, so the old workaround of stamping in a third country to skip a long queue is no longer an option.
- You pay the standard MRV application fee when you schedule or attend the appointment, per the amounts in the table above.
- If your visa is approved, the consular officer issues the visa and the $250 Visa Integrity Fee is assessed at that point, on top of the MRV fee already paid.
- You receive your passport with the visa stamp and travel to the US to seek admission at the port of entry.
Two related changes matter here too. Interview waivers ("dropbox" processing) are gone for H-1B, H-4, L-1, F-1 and J-1; sources differ on whether that started September 2 or October 1, 2025, so confirm current practice with your consulate rather than assuming you qualify. And because third-country stamping ended, plan on applying in your country of nationality or legal residence, and check the live wait-times page on travel.state.gov before booking.
The reimbursement question nobody can answer cleanly yet
The law that created the fee contemplates reimbursement after the visa expires, on the theory it backstops compliance rather than funds general operations. In practice, as of 2026, the process has not been fully defined and is applied unevenly across consulates, with immigration-firm sources reporting little visibility into how a returning traveler actually claims it back.
If you are budgeting for a work-visa stamping trip, treat the $250 as a real, non-refundable cost for planning purposes. If a reimbursement mechanism becomes concrete, it will show up on travel.state.gov — that is the page to check, not a law firm's blog post from last year.
What this means visa by visa
H-1B. Do not confuse this fee with the unrelated $100,000 H-1B fee tied to a 2025 proclamation. That $100,000 fee remains vacated and unenforceable following a federal district court ruling and a denied appellate stay, and the proclamation itself sunsets September 20, 2026 with the dispute still unresolved — it is not currently owed. What is currently owed on a normal H-1B stamping trip is the $205 MRV fee plus the $250 Visa Integrity Fee. For the fuller fee landscape around cap-exempt employers and edge cases, see this breakdown of the $100,000 fee and cap-exempt research-hospital scenarios.
L-1. Intracompany transferees pay the same $205 MRV fee tier as H-1B (petition-based categories), plus the $250 Visa Integrity Fee, at consular stamping. Because L-1 also lost interview-waiver eligibility and third-country stamping access, plan your stamping trip around your country of nationality or legal residence and build in time for a standard interview. For the mechanics of L-1 transfers themselves, see the L-1 intracompany transfer guide.
O-1. O-1 extraordinary-ability visas sit in the same $205 MRV tier and are subject to the $250 Visa Integrity Fee like the rest of the petition-based categories. If you are weighing O-1 as an alternative path when H-1B timing does not work out, the fee math above is a small piece of a much bigger decision — see the complete O-1 visa guide for eligibility and process.
TN. TN professionals from Canada and Mexico pay the lower $185 non-petition-based MRV fee, but TN is explicitly named among the categories subject to the $250 Visa Integrity Fee, so the total consular cost is still $435 rather than just $185. Canadian TN applicants who process at the border rather than through a consulate should confirm with CBP or a licensed immigration attorney exactly how and where the Visa Integrity Fee is assessed in that context, since border processing works differently from a consular interview. See the complete TN visa guide for Canada and Mexico for the broader process.
For the full current H-1B fee picture beyond just the Visa Integrity Fee, the H-1B visa fees complete breakdown walks through every line item.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the $250 fee replaces the MRV application fee. It does not. You pay both, every time you get a covered nonimmigrant visa stamped.
- Confusing the Visa Integrity Fee with the $100,000 H-1B proclamation fee. These are two completely different rules from two different sources, with two different legal statuses — one is currently in effect and collected at issuance, the other remains vacated and unenforceable in court.
- Planning around a refund that does not exist yet. The law allows for reimbursement in concept, but there is no reliable, universally applied process as of 2026. Do not subtract $250 from your budget expecting it back.
- Trying to stamp in a third country to save time or money. Third-country stamping ended September 6, 2025. Apply in your country of nationality or legal residence, and check current wait times before you book anything.
- Assuming a category not listed here is automatically exempt. The confirmed list is broad but not universal. Verify your specific category on the official State Department fee page rather than assuming.
- Skipping DSO or attorney confirmation for anything status-specific. This article explains the fee mechanics; it is not a substitute for confirming your individual filing strategy with a licensed immigration attorney, or your F-1/OPT/SEVIS questions with your school's Designated School Official.
Frequently asked questions
What is the $250 Visa Integrity Fee? It is a new nonimmigrant visa fee created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 4, 2025, with a start date of October 1, 2025. It is charged at visa issuance on top of every other fee you already pay, it cannot be waived, and it is scheduled to index for inflation starting in 2026.
Does the Visa Integrity Fee apply to H-1B visa stamping? Yes. The fee applies to most nonimmigrant visa issuances, and guidance names H among the categories covered, alongside B, F, L, O, TN, E and J. If you stamp an H-1B visa at a US consulate, expect this fee in addition to the standard MRV application fee.
Can I get the $250 fee back after my visa expires? The underlying law contemplates a reimbursement process after the visa expires, but as of 2026 that process has not been fully defined and consulates are applying it unevenly. Do not plan your finances around getting this fee back, and confirm the current mechanism with the State Department or your immigration attorney before assuming anything.
Is the $250 Visa Integrity Fee the same as the $100,000 H-1B fee? No. The Visa Integrity Fee is a flat $250 charge under OBBBA applying broadly across categories including H-1B, while the separate $100,000 fee comes from a 2025 proclamation that remains vacated and unenforceable in federal court, with that proclamation set to sunset September 20, 2026.
Which visa categories does the $250 fee not cover? The confirmed list is broad, including B, F, H, L, O, TN, E and J. If your category is not on that list, do not assume either way — check the current fee schedule on travel.state.gov or ask your consulate.
Sources
- Fees for Visa Services — US Department of State
- Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service — USCIS
Where this leaves you
The $250 Visa Integrity Fee is now a fixed line item in the cost of getting a work visa stamped, whether you are on H-1B, L-1, O-1 or TN, and it is not going away or getting waived. Build it into your travel budget the same way you already budget for the MRV fee, and treat any talk of reimbursement as unresolved until the State Department publishes an actual process. If you want help thinking through your broader visa and job-search strategy in light of the fee changes stacking up in 2026, talk to F1Jobs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the $250 Visa Integrity Fee
It is a new nonimmigrant visa fee created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 4 2025, with a start date of October 1 2025. It is charged at visa issuance on top of every other fee you already pay, it cannot be waived, and it is scheduled to index for inflation starting in 2026.
Does the Visa Integrity Fee apply to H-1B visa stamping
Yes. The fee applies to most nonimmigrant visa issuances, and USCIS and State Department guidance names H among the categories covered, alongside B, F, L, O, TN, E and J. If you stamp an H-1B visa at a US consulate you should expect this fee in addition to the standard MRV application fee.
Can I get the $250 fee back after my visa expires
The underlying law contemplates a reimbursement process after the visa expires, but as of 2026 that process has not been fully defined and consulates are applying it unevenly. Do not plan your finances around getting this fee back, and confirm the current reimbursement mechanism directly with the State Department or your immigration attorney before assuming anything.
Is the $250 Visa Integrity Fee the same as the $100000 H-1B fee
No, they are unrelated and you should not confuse them. The Visa Integrity Fee is a flat $250 charge under OBBBA that applies broadly across nonimmigrant categories including H-1B, while the separate $100000 fee comes from a 2025 proclamation that remains vacated and unenforceable in federal court as of this writing, with that proclamation set to sunset September 20 2026.
Which visa categories does the $250 fee not cover
The confirmed list of covered categories is broad, including B, F, H, L, O, TN, E and J nonimmigrant visas. If you hold a category not on that list, do not assume you are exempt or covered based on this article alone. Check the current fee schedule on travel.state.gov or ask your consulate directly before your appointment.