Announcements

Update: Validity of the Nonimmigrant Visa Fee (MRV Fee)

11 October, 2023

All receipts for payment of Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fees issued before October 1, 2022, expired September 30, 2023. There will be no extensions of fee validity. Applicants must have scheduled an appointment or submitted an interview waiver application before September 30, 2023 to avoid paying a new fee. If you paid the MRV fee on or after October 1, 2022, you must have scheduled the appointment within one year of your MRV payment date. Please note that the interview itself does not need to take place within one year, but an interview appointment needs to be made in the system, even if it is scheduled months into the future. Furthermore, applicants using MRV fees paid before October 1, 2022 to book an appointment are cautioned not to attempt to change their appointment dates on or after October 1, 2023. Doing so will result in forfeiture of both the original appointment slot and the MRV fee receipt. The applicant will be required to pay a new fee and submit a new application package.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Travel to the United States

5 September, 2023

Nonimmigrant visa holder travel: Passengers no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID-19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States. For more information, visit https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/before-travel.

Immigrant visa applicants: U.S. immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. For more information visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/vaccinations.html.

Validity of the Nonimmigrant Visa Fee (MRV Fee)

5 September, 2023

All receipts for payment of Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fees issued before October 1, 2022, will expire September 30, 2023. There will be no extensions of fee validity. Applicants must schedule an appointment or submit an interview waiver application before September 30, 2023 to avoid paying a new fee. If you paid the MRV fee after October 1, 2022, you must schedule the appointment within one year. Please note that the interview itself does not need to take place within one year, but an interview appointment needs to be made in the system, even if it is scheduled months into the future. Furthermore, applicants using MRV fees paid before October 1, 2022 to book an appointment are cautioned not to attempt to change their appointment dates on or after October 1, 2023. Doing so will result in forfeiture of both the original appointment slot and the MRV fee receipt. The applicant will be required to pay a new fee and submit a new application package.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF YOUR VISA FEE

10 July, 2023

Visa application fees are valid to use for 365 days from date of purchase. After the 365 days, if the applicant has not scheduled their interview appointment or submitted their application to apply for a U.S. Non-Immigrant visa (including K fiancé visas), the fee will expire and the applicant will forfeit the right to use the fee for a visa application. However, as a result of the suspension of routine consular operations due to COVID-19 in early 2020 and the U.S. Department of State’s efforts to restore all routine visa operations as quickly and safely as possible, the Department extended the validity of visa application fees until September 30, 2023 for all fees that expired between February 20, 2020 and September 30, 2022.

Please check the validity of your visa fee and read the below important information:

  • To check the expiry date of your visa fee, log into your account on this website (https://ais.usvisa-info.com/), click the Continue button, and select Payment Receipt option. The visa fee expiry date for each visa applicant is listed on the Payment Receipt.
  • If you do not use the fee before the fee expiration date, you will be required to pay a new fee if you want to apply for a visa. You can use the visa fee until 23:59 EST time on the expiration date.
  • If you have already used your visa fee to schedule an appointment in the future (after the visa fee expiration date), you will not be able to cancel or reschedule your appointment after the fee expiration date, unless you pay a new visa fee. Your current appointment is still valid even if it is scheduled after the visa fee expiration date. Please plan to attend your scheduled visa interview appointment.
  • You will NOT be able to cancel or reschedule your appointment after the visa fee expiration date. If you try to cancel or reschedule your appointment, the scheduling system will display a warning message indicating that your visa payment of the original appointment has expired and if you wish to continue with your appointment cancelation or reschedule, the system will require you to pay a new visa fee.
  • If you miss your interview appointment and the fee used to schedule the appointment is already expired, you will be required to pay a new visa fee if you wish to continue with your visa application. Plan to attend your scheduled visa interview scheduled appointment to avoid having to pay a new fee.
  • If you already attended your consular appointment but you were refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and your visa application is still pending review, you are not affected by the visa fee expiration date because the visa applicant is already in progress. You should follow the guidance received during your interview.

Please check information posted on https://ais.usvisa-info.com/ for the most updated information regarding your visa fee and appointment.

Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees

17 June, 2023

  • The application fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s and BCCs), and other non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas is $185 USD.
  • The application fee for certain petition-based nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) is $205 USD.
  • The application fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor, and treaty applicant in a specialty occupation (E category) is $315 USD.

Applicants who have already paid a visa application fee that is currently valid and non-expired, but who have not yet appeared for their visa interview or are waiting for their case to be processed, will not be charged any additional fees.

Important information about the privacy and security of your account on this website

30 May, 2023

Your privacy and security are important. We strongly recommend that you do not share your sign in credentials for this Site, with anyone, under any circumstances. Our team will never request your credentials either over the phone, or via e-mail. Sharing your credentials could result in misuse or compromise of your personal information. Additionally, the use of automated tools such as bots, scripts, or other non-human interfaces within this Site is prohibited. Such tools not only have the potential to jeopardize the integrity of your personal data, but may also result in delays in the processing of your application. Refer to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use of this Site for additional details. Thank you for your cooperation in maintaining a high standard of security and privacy.

Long lines at certain Post Offices in Toronto & Vancouver

9 March, 2023

Increased seasonal volumes are causing long lines at the following post offices:

Downtown Toronto Area:

  • Toronto Commerce Court PO (25 King St W)
  • Toronto Atrium on Bay PO (595 Bay St)
  • Toronto Adelaide PO (31 Adelaide St)

Downtown Vancouver Area:

  • Vancouver Bentall Centre PO (595 Burrard St)
  • Vancouver Main Retail Store PO (495 West Georgia St)

Please note that applicants are reporting to wait up to 1 hour in line to retrieve their shipments.

To reduce your waiting times, we advise you to verify the free and paid alternatives to receive your documents available in our website. Log in and click on “Update delivery location.” Optionally, get your documents delivered to your address in Canada by clicking on “Request Premium Delivery.”

16 September, 2020

Urgent Information For Visa Applicants

Please review the information below before scheduling or attending a visa-related appointment.

Important Announcement on Waivers of the Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF YOUR VISA FEE

Important information about the privacy and security of your account on this website

COVID-19 Vaccination and Travel to the United States

Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees


U.S. Visa and Travel Updates

For the latest information from the U.S. Department of State regarding visa issues and travel to the United States, please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news.html.

New mail in address for the U.S Consulate in Vancouver

23 July, 2020

Effective July 23, 2020, the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver will have a new address to receive documents at 112-1231 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6Z 0E2.