Tamizdat Update: U.S. Visa Fee Increases Announced
Many will remember that the government proposed significant visa filing fee hikes in January 2023. After considerable international outcry—especially from the performing arts sector—the hikes were successfully stalled… until now. Last week the U.S. government released its final ruling, announcing changes to the filing fees for many visa petitions that will take place on April 1. The new rules are complex, and the changes vary from slight reductions to very significant increases. A complete explanation can be found here, but this post summarizes the main points relevant to the international performing arts sector.
Any fee increase is a blow, but the changes announced this week reflect some substantial wins for the arts, nonprofits, and small businesses—the result of successful grassroots efforts to limit costs for particularly vulnerable clients in the cultural sector. The fee hike will have a comparatively small impact on most clients whose petitioners are small businesses and nonprofits (like Tamizdat).
The primary changes for performing artists are…
- For O and P visa petitions, the old fee was $460 per petition.
- For P visa petitions where the petitioner is a nonprofit (including petitions filed by Tamizdat), the new fee is $50 more—$510.
- For P visa petitions where the petitioner is a small business (25 or fewer full-time employees), the new fee is $350 more—$810, which includes a $300 fee to subsidize asylum cases.
- For other P visa petitions the new fee is $1615, which includes a $600 fee to subsidize asylum cases.
- For O visa petitions where the petitioner is a nonprofit (including petitions filed by Tamizdat), the new fee is $70 more—$530.
- For O visa petitions where the petitioner is a small business (25 or fewer full-time employees), the new fee is $370 more—$830, which includes a $300 fee to subsidize asylum cases.
- For other O visa petitions, the new fee is $1655, which includes a $600 fee to subsidize asylum cases.
- The new regulations limit the number of beneficiaries that can be included on a single petition to 25. This 25-beneficiary cap applies to all O and P petitions, and will very significantly increase the costs for large ensembles that use P or O-2 visas, like orchestras and theater and dance companies.
- There are also changes to USCIS’s Premium Processing time frame and fees. The guaranteed time frame for USCIS’s optional Premium Processing expedited service will increase from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. And it should be noted that per a prior announcement, on February 26 the Premium Processing fee will increase from $2500 to $2805.
If you have any questions, please contact info@tamizdat.org.