THE United States will be increasing visa fees worldwide, including Jamaica, effective Friday June 4.

All persons whose interviews fall on or after that date must pay the new fees. Applicants with interviews scheduled for June 4 and who have already paid according to the old fee schedule must now return to NCB to pay the difference for their applications to be processed.

Under the new fees petition-based visas cost more than non-petition based visas.

New fee scehdule:

Non-petition-based visas:

• Visitor (B1/B2) US$140
• Crewmember (C1/D)    US$140
• Student visas (F1 and M1) US$140
• Treaty Trader/Investor (E1 or E2) US$390

• Temporary skilled workers (H-1B) US$150
• Temporary seasonal workers (H-2B) US$150
• Intra-company transferees (L1) US$150
• Performers (O and P) US$150
• Fiancé-based visas (K) US$350

Although the treaty trader (E1) and treaty investor (E2) visa classes are not petition-based, they will now be set at US$390 to reflect the real cost of processing document-intensive visa categories.

For more information visit the US Embassy website: http://kingston.usembassy.gov