Thousands of Australian travellers, including students, workers and business travellers, could now be charged a huge ‘visa integrity fee’ as part of President Donald Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’.
From 1 October 2025, the US government will start charging the US$250 (AU$383) fee to scores of foreign nationals applying for a visa after Trump signed off on the tax cuts and spending law on 4 July.
Travellers in line to be slugged by the “visa integrity fee” could be eligible to recoup the full cost after legally exiting the country. Travellers may be reimbursed after their trip as long as they comply with their visa restrictions. However, the bill does not stipulate how reimbursements will be processed.
According to US immigration law firm Reddy Neumann Brown: “The intent behind this refund provision is to incentivise compliance with US immigration laws by treating the $US250 as a refundable security deposit – essentially rewarding those who follow the rules.”
Who will the fee apply to?
Most Australians visiting the US as tourists can enter the country for up to 90 days under the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. This waiver program, known as the ESTA, has increased from US$21 (AU$32) to US$40 (AU$60).
The new ‘visa integrity fee’ will be applied to anyone who is not eligible for the ESTA visa waiver. This includes holders of the following visas:
- Visa H-1B (specialty occupations, most commonly used by companies to hire overseas skilled workers.)
- Visa F-1 (academic student)
- Visa B-1/B-2 (business visitor/tourist visitor)
- Visa J-1 (exchange visitor)
- Visa L-1 (intra-company transferees)
- Visa O-1 (extraordinary ability or achievement in arts, athletics and sciences)
People will need to pay the charge once their visa application is approved – in addition to the cost of the visa.
Corporate Traveller and FCM Travel global chief operating officer Melissa Elf said the “key thing to understand is that Australia, as a key trading partner of the US, is covered under the ESTA visa waiver – this is also true of other major markets like the UK, New Zealand, and Japan”.
Last year, 958,763 ESTA visa waivers were issued to Australians for tourism and 92,643 ESTA visa waivers were issued for business travel, according to US Customs and Border Protection numbers. However some 291,213 Australians were admitted to the US on visas outside of the ESTA program. Within that figure, 24,820 were issued B1 and B2 visas, and another 266,393 admissions of Australians were made under other visas.
US Travel Association president and chief Geoff Freeman criticised the visa integrity fee.
“Raising fees on lawful international visitors amounts to a self-imposed tariff on one of our nation’s largest exports: international travel spending,” Freeman said.
“These fees are not reinvested in improving the travel experience and do nothing but discourage visitation at a time when foreign travellers are already concerned about the welcome experience and high prices.”
‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed by Congress and signed into law on 4 July. The controversial spending bill makes tax cuts permanent, while raising spending on defence and Trump’s signature issue, border security. It does so by cutting spending on healthcare, nutrition and Medicaid programs. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts the bill would add $US3.4 trillion to US deficits over the next decade.
A spokesman for the US consulate in Sydney said: “The Trump administration is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.
“Congress enacted the visa integrity fee as part of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ to support the administration’s priorities of strengthening immigration enforcement, deterring visa overstays, and funding border security.”
It comes amid Trump’s move to resurrect the travel ban policy from his first term. Recently, he signed a proclamation preventing people from a dozen countries from entering the US, including Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In addition to the ban, which came into effect in June, there will be heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Those seeking asylum will also be required to pay additional US$100 on top of existing fees.
