An announcement from the US Department of State on April 13th 2012, states that the visa processing fees for immigrant and non-immigrant visas will be changed. The visa processing fee for most non-immigrant visas will be increased while the visa processing fees for immigrant visas will be decreased. The processing fees for the E-Treaty Investor and Trader visas and K-Fiancé(e) visas will be decreased.
This reduction in the processing fees for immigrant visas will benefit the immigrants who wish to apply for permanent resident status in the United States. Moreover, this news delights the Green Card Lottery winners. It is because the Green Card Lottery winners will benefit from the new reduction in the visa processing fees. They will pay US$330 per person instead of US$440, which is the old visa processing fees for the DV lottery winners.
The visa processing fees must be recovered by the Department of State by collecting processing fees for visas. For certain reasons, the fees that was collected was not enough to cover the cost of processing the non-immigrant visas. The increase in non-immigrant visa fee is likely to support the expansion of facilities overseas, along with additional staffing which is needed to meet the increased demand for visas.
All the immigrant visa processing fees have been decreased. One of the reasons for a reduction in the processing fees for immigrant visas is because the costs connected with these visas have been redistributed. Hence the immigrant visa applicants profit in all visa categories, due to the fee reduction.
The reduction in fees for the Green Card lottery winners applies to the winners who still have their interview appointment, in the near future. As the processing fees has changed from 13th April, if you had paid a visa fee before the 13th of April and the fees for your particular category has decreased, you will not be given a refund.
If you had already paid the visa processing fees and if the fees has increased, you need not pay the difference between your old and new visa fees, if your visa interview is on or before the 12th of July 2012. After the 12th of July you must pay the new fees according to your visa application. This change in fees is a worldwide change and is not country based. This reduction in fees is one of the good news for the Green Card lottery applicants and winners.