8 U.S.C. § 1351
Section 1351 · Nonimmigrant visa fees
This is § 281 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 1 court decisions — leading case SPARROW (1994)
Most recently applied in SPARROW (July 1994)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The fees for the furnishing and verification of applications for visas by nonimmigrants of each foreign country and for the issuance of visas to nonimmigrants of each foreign country shall be prescribed by the Secretary of State, if practicable, in amounts corresponding to the total of all visa, entry, residence, or other similar fees, taxes, or charges assessed or levied against nationals of the United States by the foreign countries of which such nonimmigrants are nationals or stateless residents: Provided, That nonimmigrant visas issued to aliens coming to the United States in transit to and from the headquarters district of the United Nations in accordance with the provisions of the Headquarters Agreement shall be gratis. Subject to such criteria as the Secretary of State may prescribe, including the duration of stay of the alien and the financial burden upon the charitable organization, the Secretary of State shall waive or reduce the fee for application and issuance of a nonimmigrant visa for any alien coming to the United States primarily for, or in activities related to, a charitable purpose involving health or nursing care, the provision of food or housing, job training, or any other similar direct service or assistance to poor or otherwise needy individuals in the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Headquarters Agreement, referred to in text, is set out as a note under section 287 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Amendments
1997—Pub. L. 105–54 inserted at end “Subject to such criteria as the Secretary of State may prescribe, including the duration of stay of the alien and the financial burden upon the charitable organization, the Secretary of State shall waive or reduce the fee for application and issuance of a nonimmigrant visa for any alien coming to the United States primarily for, or in activities related to, a charitable purpose involving health or nursing care, the provision of food or housing, job training, or any other similar direct service or assistance to poor or otherwise needy individuals in the United States.”
1968—Pub. L. 90–609 struck out provisions fixing statutory fees for specified immigration and nationality benefits and services rendered, including those pertaining to immigrant visas, reentry permits, adjustments of status to permanent residence, creation of record of admission for permanent residence, suspension of deportation, extension of stay to nonimmigrants, and application for admission to practice as attorney or representative before the Service.
1965—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–236, §14(a), (b), designated opening provision beginning “The following fees shall be charged:” and ending with the end of par. (7) as subsec. (a) and substituted reference to section 1154 of this title for sections 1154(b) and 1155(b) of this title in par. (6).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–236, §14(c), added subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–236, §14(d), designated closing provision consisting of the paragraph beginning “The fees for the furnishing” as subsec. (c).
Effective Date of 1997 Amendment
Section 2(b) of Pub. L. 105–54 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 6, 1997].”
Effective Date of 1965 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 89–236, see section 20 of Pub. L. 89–236, set out as a note under section 1151 of this title.
Surcharge for Processing Machine Readable Nonimmigrant Visas
Pub. L. 105–119, title IV, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat. 2494, provided in part: “That notwithstanding section 140(a)(5), and the second sentence of section 140(a)(3), of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 (Public Law 103–236) [set out below], fees may be collected during fiscal years 1998 and 1999 under the authority of section 140(a)(1) of that Act: Provided further, That all fees collected under the preceding proviso shall be deposited in fiscal years 1998 and 1999 as an offsetting collection to appropriations made under this heading to recover costs as set forth under section 140(a)(2) of that Act and shall remain available until expended.”
Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriations acts:
Pub. L. 105–46, §116, Sept. 30, 1997, 111 Stat. 1157.
Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, §101(a) [title IV], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009–46.
Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101[(a)] [title IV], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–36; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, §1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.
Pub. L. 103–236, title I, §140(a), Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 399, as amended by Pub. L. 103–415, §1(bb), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4302, provided that:
“(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State is authorized to charge a fee or surcharge for processing machine readable nonimmigrant visas and machine readable combined border crossing identification cards and nonimmigrant visas.
“(2) Fees collected under the authority of paragraph (1) shall be deposited as an offsetting collection to any Department of State appropriation, to recover the costs of providing consular services. Such fees shall remain available for obligation until expended.
“(3) For fiscal years 1994 and 1995, fees deposited under the authority of paragraph (2) may not exceed a total of $107,500,000. For subsequent fiscal years, fees may be collected under the authority of paragraph (1) only in such amounts as shall be prescribed in subsequent authorization Acts.
“(4) The provisions of the Act of August 18, 1856 (Revised Statutes 1726–28; 22 U.S.C. 4212–14), concerning accounting for consular fees shall not apply to fees collected under this subsection.
“(5) No fee or surcharge authorized under paragraph (1) may be charged to a citizen of a country that is a signatory as of the date of enactment of this Act [Apr. 30, 1994] to the North American Free Trade Agreement, except that the Secretary of State may charge such fee or surcharge to a citizen of such a country if the Secretary determines that such country charges a visa application or issuance fee to citizens of the United States.”
Provisions directing the continuing effect for specific periods of authorities provided under section 140(a) of Pub. L. 103–236, set out above, were contained in the following appropriation acts:
Pub. L. 104–92, title I, §112, Jan. 6, 1996, 110 Stat. 18.
Pub. L. 104–56, title I, §118, Nov. 20, 1995, 109 Stat. 552.
Pub. L. 104–54, title I, §118, Nov. 19, 1995, 109 Stat. 544.
Pub. L. 104–31, §119, Sept. 30, 1995, 109 Stat. 281.
Cross References
Definition of the term—
Alien, see section 1101(a)(3) of this title.
Attorney General, see section 1101(a)(5) of this title.
Entry, see section 1101(a)(13) of this title.
Immigrant visa, see section 1101(a)(16) of this title.
National, see section 1101(a)(21) of this title.
National of the United States, see section 1101(a)(22) of this title.
Nonimmigrant alien, see section 1101(a)(15) of this title.
Nonimmigrant visa, see section 1101(a)(26) of this title.
Residence, see section 1101(a)(33) of this title.
Service, see section 1101(a)(34) of this title.
Reentry permit, see section 1203 of this title.