Maple News reports that an upcoming change to U.S. immigration policy may bring added costs for some Canadian residents and international workers. Under the recently signed H.R.1 Act, the United States plans to introduce a new $250 USD ‘Visa Integrity Fee’ for applicants requesting non-immigrant visas.
This fee applies to foreign nationals—commonly referred to as “aliens” in U.S. legal terminology—who are issued a non-immigrant visa. Intended to support U.S. immigration enforcement and visa oversight, this new charge will be in addition to existing application and processing fees. The law was signed into effect on July 4, but the exact implementation date has yet to be confirmed. Current projections suggest the fee could begin as early as late 2025.
The new fee will apply to various non-immigrant visa categories, including tourist and business visas (B-1/B-2), student visas (F and M), temporary worker visas (such as H-1B and H-4), and exchange visitor visas (J). Notably, citizens of countries that do not participate in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program—such as India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil—will be affected.
For Canadian permanent residents and temporary residents who hold citizenship from one of these non-waiver countries, the $250 fee will be mandatory when applying for a U.S. non-immigrant visa. This represents a potentially significant rise in application costs for individuals traveling across the Canada–U.S. border for purposes such as tourism, study, work, or business.
Canadian citizens, however, are largely exempt. Most do not require a visa to enter the United States for short visits and therefore will not be subject to the new fee unless applying for specific visa types under rare circumstances.
While this policy is still pending formal implementation, travelers planning to visit the U.S. from Canada—especially those with foreign citizenship—are advised to monitor updates and prepare for potential cost increases.
Maple News will continue to provide updates as more details become available regarding the timeline and scope of the Visa Integrity Fee.