New 'Visa Integrity Fee' means some people in Canada will pay nearly $350 to visit U.S.
For some people in Canada, travel to the U.S. is about to become more expensive with the introduction of the new Visa Integrity Fee.
Some non-citizens in Canada who require a visa to travel to the U.S. may want to do so before the U.S. government implements the Visa Integrity Fee. Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law, non-immigrants travelling to the U.S. will have to pay a fee of US$250 or C$342.26. However, it’s up to the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine the final amount.
Daily Hive contacted the Department of Homeland Security about the fee. In an email, a spokesperson stated, “President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill provides the necessary policies and resources to restore integrity in our nation’s immigration system. The visa integrity fee requires cross-agency coordination before implementation.”
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Permanent residents will be affected
The new fee will apply to “any alien issued a nonimmigrant visa at the time of such issuance.” According to the Government of Canada, Canadian citizens generally don’t require a visitor visa to enter the U.S. However, permanent residents in Canada may require a visa to enter the U.S. and could thereby be subject to the new fee.
Travellers applying for a visit visa to the U.S. will be required to pay the fee at the time their non-immigrant visa is issued. The new fee would be in addition to the non-refundable US$185 (C$253.25) application fee that applies to visitors.
The Visa Integrity Fee takes effect at the start of fiscal year 2025, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025, to Sept. 30, 2026. If US$250 wasn’t pricey enough, the fee could increase the following fiscal year due to “annual adjustments for inflation.”
And everyone who needs a visa to travel to the U.S. will be required to pay the Visa Integrity Fee, with no waivers or discounts. However, according to the bill, visitors in the U.S. could get reimbursed if they didn’t accept unauthorized employment or didn’t overstay. They’re also eligible for reimbursement if they were granted an extension or became a U.S. permanent resident.
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The Visa Integrity Fee is one of many changes the U.S. announced this year.
To track overstays, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that it is testing facial biometrics at several land borders. Starting April 11, Canadians planning to stay in the U.S. for longer than 30 days will be required to complete an “alien registration form,” with some individuals also being required to undergo fingerprinting.
On July 8, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that passengers travelling through domestic airports no longer have to remove their shoes when passing through security.
As the number of Canadians travelling to the U.S. continues to drop, politicians such as California Governor Gavin Newsom and Burlington, Vermont, City Councillor Becca Brown McKnight have openly criticized Trump’s policies and introduced initiatives to attract Canadian tourists.
With files from Isabelle Docto