U.S. Non-Immigrant Visa Fee to Increase to NT$4,300 Beginning January 1, 2008

PR0778E | Date: 2007-12-18

Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase to NT$4,300.  This increase is intended to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process.

Any visa fee payments made after January 1, 2008, must be for the full NT$4,300 fee.

If an applicant pays the NT$3,300 application fee before January 1, 2008, and the applicant is interviewed on or before January 31, 2008, no further payment is required.

Beginning February 1, all applicants must pay the full amount of NT$4,300.  Applicants applying after that date who have only paid NT$3,300 must pay an additional NT$1,000 before appearing at AIT for an interview.

Under U.S. law, agencies are expected to recover the costs of providing services.  The increase in this fee is necessary to recover the cost of processing non-immigrant visas.  Because of new security-related costs, new information technology systems, and inflation, the current visa fee is lower than the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas.

Among the increased costs the fee increase will account for are new security-related charges for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's ten-fingerprint and name check requirements.  Because the U.S. Department of State must begin paying for the FBI's services starting January 1, 2008, it must raise the fee at the same time.

The procedure for paying visa fees has not changed.  AIT visa applicants must pay the visa fee (and the additional NT$1,000, if required) at Taiwan post offices.  The fee must be paid in local currency according to the current exchange rate.

For more information about U.S. non-immigrant visas, including fees, please visit our website at http://www.ait.org.tw/en/visa/niv/, or contact the Non-immigrant Visa Unit at AIT's Taipei Office by e-mail at visaniv@mail.ait.org.tw.