Price of visa to US goes up

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US State Department announced Thursday it was raising the price of most visas for foreign visitors to the United States by more than 30 percent.

The move is aimed at helping pay for increased security measures for visitors, especially costs relating to the finger-printing of foreign visitors, the department said in a statement.

Starting January 1 the price of a tourism, business, student or temporary employment visa goes up from 100 to 131 dollars, the statement said.

The 100 dollar fee "was already lower than the cost of processing non-immigrant visas when the fee was reviewed as a part of the cost of service study in 2004," it said.

It added that the State Department "has been absorbing the additional cost."

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