2007 PRESS RELEASES

Non-Immigrant Visa Fees to Increase World-wide on January 1, 2008

December 17, 2007

On January 1, 2008, the fee to apply for any non-immigrant visa to enter the United States, including tourist, business, student and other visas, will increase by $31 USD world-wide.  Effective January 1st, applicants for non-immigrant visas in Kenya will need to pay 9,000 KSH ($131 USD), as opposed to the existing fee of 7,000 KSH ($100 USD).  The fee adjustment allows the Department to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process.

Application fees of $100 paid prior to January 1, 2008, will be accepted until January 31, 2008.  After January 31, all applicants will be required to have paid the equivalent of $131 dollars at the time of processing, regardless of the date of original application.

Procedures for payment of visa fees in Kenya will not change: all applicants for non-immigrant visas to visit the United States, regardless of nationality, should pay the fee at the Commercial Bank of Africa for each individual visa application. 

The Department of State must periodically adjust fees, whether for visas or other services provided, to comply with U.S. federal legislation requiring it to offset costs through fees charged directly to the users of those services.  Advances in security, information processing systems, and inflation have added to the processing costs for non-immigrant visas.  Since 2004, the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visa applications has exceeded the revenue from visa application fees.  The last fee increases for non-immigrant visas occurred in 2002.