New U.S. visa integrity fee to affect some travellers including from Canada

Rosanna Berardi, an immigration lawyer from Buffalo, N.Y., speaks about how the U.S. visa integrity fee will affect travellers from Canada.

Some people travelling to the United States from countries including Canada will have to pay a “visa integrity fee” of US$250, but an immigration lawyer says most Canadian citizens won’t be affected.

“This one won’t hit Canadian citizens too hard, and they can continue to enter the United States as usual,” Rosanna Berardi, managing partner of Berardi Immigration Law, in Buffalo, N.Y., said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Monday, noting Canadian citizens generally just need their passport to enter the U.S. “Ninety-nine per cent of Canadian citizens are visa exempt. ... Those individuals will not have to pay the new visa integrity fee, unless they are investors or fiancés of U.S. citizens.”

The visa integrity fee will apply to Canadian permanent residents entering the U.S. both by land and air who are not American citizens or who were not born from Visa Waiver Program countries, Berardi added. People who have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization through the Visa Waiver Program can stay in the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa, according to the U.S. government’s website.

The fee is part of the Trump administration’s spending legislation called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which became law on July 4. The U.S. government didn’t state when the fee would go into effect.

The US$250 fee would be for the current federal fiscal year, the act states. It may be adjusted annually for inflation and won’t be waived or reduced, according to the act.

Visitors to the U.S. may be reimbursed for the fee after their non-immigrant visa expires under certain conditions, the act states. For instance, people may get their money back if they followed all conditions under the visa, such as not accepting unauthorized employment.

When asked for more details about the new fee on Monday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in an email: “President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill provides the necessary policies and resources to restore integrity in our nation’s immigration system. The visa integrity fee requires cross-agency coordination before implementation.”

A U.S. State Department spokesperson wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Monday that the fee is part of the Trump administration’s efforts to help strengthen immigration enforcement, deter visa overstays and fund border security.

“We will provide more information regarding the implementation and impact of the law for the Department of State as soon as practicable,” a spokesperson wrote. “All updates will be posted to our visa information page at travel.state.gov.”

Global Affairs Canada didn’t immediately respond to CTVNews.ca’s request for comment and more information.