Will $250 'Visa Integrity Fee' Cost America Its Tourists? Travel Experts Raise Red Flag

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Amid a 3.1% year-on-year decline in international arrivals in July, down to 19.2 million visitors according to United States government data, due to Trump's immigration policies and hostility toward some foreign countries, the new $250 'visa integrity fee' imposed on travelers to the US could further hurt the struggling travel industry, Reuters reported.

It marked the fifth month of decline this year, defying expectations that 2025 would see inbound visitors surpass the pre-pandemic level of 79.4 million.

The new visa fee, set to take effect on October 1, introduces another barrier for travelers from non-visa waiver countries like Mexico, Argentina, India, Brazil, and China. The additional charge brings the total visa cost to $442, making it one of the highest in the world, according to the US Travel Association, a trade group.

What do experts say?

“Any friction we add to the traveler experience is going to cut travel volumes by some amount. As the summer ends this will become a more pressing issue, and we'll have to factor the fees into travel budgets and documentation,” Reuters quoted Gabe Rizzi, President of Altour, a global travel management company as saying.

International visitor spending in the US is expected to drop below $169 billion this year, down from $181 billion in 2024, the World Travel & Tourism Council believes.

In December 2024, Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics consultancy, projected that overseas travel to the US would rise by over 10% in 2025. However, according to Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, it is now expected to decline by 3%.

The new visa fee is expected to have the greatest impact on Central and South American countries, which have been a rare bright spot for US travel this year, as per the report.

As of May, travel from Mexico to the US had increased nearly 14% in 2025, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. Arrivals from Argentina were up 20%, and from Brazil by 4.6% year-to-date. Overall, travel from Central America grew by 3%, and from South America by 0.7%, in contrast to a 2.3% decline from Western Europe, the Reuters report mentioned.

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It added that in China, arrivals have remained sluggish since the pandemic, with July numbers still 53% below 2019 levels. The visa fee also poses a challenge for travel from India, where visits have dropped 2.4% this year, largely due to an 18% decrease in student arrivals. For some, the increase in fees will simply be viewed as an additional cost on top of an already expensive trip to the US.

The new visa fee adds to the negative perception of the US under Trump, whose immigration policies, foreign aid cuts, and wide-reaching tariffs have diminished the country's appeal as a travel destination, despite major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics coming up.

Also Read | Argentina eases entry for Indian citizens holding US visas

On Wednesday, the Trump administration proposed new regulations aimed at shortening the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors, and media personnel.

Additionally, in early August, the administration announced a pilot program, starting on August 20, that could require bonds of up to $15,000 for certain tourist and business visas. This programme, set to last about a year, is designed to address the issue of visitors overstaying their visas.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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