The United States will begin charging a new USD 250 “Visa Integrity Fee” to most non-immigrant visa applicants from 1 October, as part of a new law signed by President Donald Trump on 4 July.
The legislation, which was drafted earlier this year and approved by the Senate, introduces the additional charge as part of broader immigration and visa policy reforms. Once in effect, the new fee will apply to a wide range of visa categories, including tourist and business (B-1/B-2), student (F and M), work (H-1B and H-4), and exchange visitor (J) visas.
This USD 250 fee will be charged on top of existing visa costs, such as the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee, reciprocity fees, and other standard administrative charges.
It is expected to increase the overall cost of obtaining a U.S. visa for many international travelers.

Travelers from countries that are part of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) will not be affected. Citizens of countries such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, and most European nations can continue to travel to the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without a visa, and therefore will not be subject to the new fee.
However, applicants from countries not included in the VWP, including Laos, will be required to pay the full set of visa fees, including the new integrity charge.
U.S. authorities have not yet clarified whether the new fee will be reviewed or adjusted annually, nor how the revenue from the charge will be used. Further information is expected to be released closer to the implementation date
Tighter Immigration Controls for Lao Nationals
The introduction of the Visa Integrity Fee follows a series of recent policy moves by the Trump administration aimed at tightening immigration controls.
On 4 June, President Trump signed a full travel ban on 12 countries and a partial ban on an additional seven countries, among which Laos.
The ban fully prohibits travel to the US by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Meanwhile, a partial ban on travelers from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, suspends immigrant entry and restricting nonimmigrant visas in the B-1/B-2 (tourist and business), F and M (student), and J (exchange visitor) categories, while allowing limited exceptions for certain temporary work visas.
For Lao nationals, the combined impact proves particularly challenging. Unlike VWP countries, Lao citizens must obtain visas for any US entry regardless of purpose or duration.
Recent Department of Homeland Security data shows Laos recorded a 9.55 percent overstay rate in the B-1/B-2 category.