Visas to the U.S.

Visa Processing Fees to Change on April 13, 2012

Effective April 13, 2012, the Department of State will adjust visa processing fees worldwide. The fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.

The Department is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees. For a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The nonimmigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.

Although most categories of nonimmigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens) will decrease.

Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees

Because of a reallocation of costs associated with immigrant visas, all categories of immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.

Immigrant Visa Processing Fees

The proposed fees were published in the Federal Register today, and will take effect in 15 days. To view the interim final rule, visit Regulations.gov website.

Comments will be accepted until 60 days after publication. At that time, the Department will consider the public comments, and the published final rule will include the Department’s response to any comments received.

Fee information may also be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website, travel.state.gov, and on the websites of U.S. embassies and consulates.

Important Notice Regarding the 2012 Diversity Visa Program

The results of the selection process for the 2012 Diversity Visa (DV-2012) program have been voided. Results previously available via the Entry Status Check (ESC) function on the Department of State website, dvlottery.state.gov, were posted in error and are now invalid. The results were not valid because they did not represent a fair, random selection of entrants, as required by U.S. law.

This means that we have rescinded all notices informing entrants that they had been selected for further processing in DV-2012; if you received such a notice via ESC on dvlottery.state.gov, it is no longer valid.

A new random selection process will be conducted based on the original entries for the DV-2012 program. If you submitted a qualified entry from October 5, 2010, to November 3, 2010, you do not need to reapply. Your entry will be included in the new random selection. Your confirmation number, which is required to determine the status of your entry, remains the same. We are not accepting new entries for the DV-2012 program.

We expect the results of the new random selection process to be available by July 15, 2011, via the ESC function on dvlottery.state.gov.

We regret any inconvenience this might have caused.

For further information and future updates on the 2012 DV program, please see:

• Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery
• Department of State Travel - Diversity Visa Program

Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery Fraud Alert

There are fraudulent e-mails from @usa.com concerning the 2011 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery currently circulating. @usa.com is not an official State Department e-mail address. Starting May 1, 2011, successful applicants will be able to check their DV status through a web-based Entry Status Check at the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery website. Requests to pay any fees associated with the DV Lottery at locations other than the U.S. Embassy’s Consular Section are absolutely fraudulent.

Non-Immigrant Visas

The Embassy of the United States in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina utilizes a Visa Information Service (VIS), which is a call center that provides current and accurate information about applying for a non-immigrant visa and makes appointment for your visa interview. The service, based on similar models operating today in more than 34 countries across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. All visa applicants must use the call center to obtain visa information and to schedule interview appointments. Walk-in interviews at the Embassy are no longer available.

• Non-Immigrant Visas Information
• Learn more about the Summer Work/Travel Program for full-time college students
• Travel tips for SWT Participants (PDF 122 KB)
• New J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program

Immigrant Visas

U.S. Embassy Sarajevo is pleased to announce that it will begin processing immigrant visas, fiance (K) and diversity visas (DV) for residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina beginning October 1, 2007. Applicants from Bosnia and Herzegovina whose cases are currently at the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb may continue processing their immigrant visa application in Zagreb.

Applicants who wish to have their cases transferred from Zagreb to Sarajevo, should submit case transfer requests to the Consular Section in Sarajevo (IVConsularsarajevo@state.gov) Please contact U.S. Embassy Sarajevo for further information about processing procedures for immigrant visas, diversity visas and fiance visas.

• Immigrant Visas Information