MORE Jamaicans are reaching out to travel agents with inquiries and for appointment bookings as they scramble to apply for a United States non-immigrant visa ahead of a newly announced fee hike set for next year.

However, this does not appear to extend to those Jamaicans who were recently denied US visas because some of them say they are in no rush to reapply.

The apparent frenzy follows news that the United States Government will introduce a mandatory US$250 fee — in addition to the existing US$185 application fee — for approved non-immigrant visa applicants, including those seeking visitor, student, and work visas. The increase is part of the newly signed ‘Big Beautiful Bill’.

The new charge, dubbed the integrity fee, will function as a type of security deposit. It is refundable — after the expiration of the non-immigrant visa’s period of validity — only if a visa holder adheres to the terms of the visa, do not overstay or violate their status, and departs the US within the allowed time frame.

The fee is expected to increase annually, adjusted for inflation.

Travel agents Soumoya Mattis, CEO of HappiStart Travel, and Tavar Samuels, CEO of Expedite Travel Services, say their phone lines have been ringing non-stop since the announcement. Inquiries have also flooded their social media platforms, with anxious applicants trying to secure US visa interview dates before the new fees are implemented.

“I don’t have an exact number, but we do have quite a few inquiries where people definitely say, ‘I want my application to be submitted before the fee takes effect.’ But we do have a lot of applications that we’re working on, and it doesn’t seem to have phased anybody at all. They just now know that if it comes into effect before you go to the embassy, you’re going to have that to pay,” Mattis told the Jamaica Observer.

She shared that, since 2019, her company has helped approximately 2,000 applicants annually from Jamaica and the Caribbean apply for visas for different countries, with those applying for US visas among the majority.

“At this moment while talking to you, we have 108 processing applications, and this is for the US,” she said last Thursday.

She said, too, that her company typically has an approval rate of 94 per cent, and she does not anticipate the upcoming fee change will have a negative impact on business.

“We’ve been cultured from when we’re small that America is a land of milk and honey. A lot of people want to go to the US, and a lot of people will do it regardless of what the cost is,” said Mattis.

“Compared to other embassies, the US Embassy has quite affordable fees when you look at what you get for what you pay for. For example, you’re paying US$185 for a 10-year visa as opposed to the United Kingdom, where you pay like US$1,000 for the 10-year visa, and then you have other embassies that don’t even issue the 10-year visa, but still have similar fees,” she explained.

Samuels said he has also seen an uptick in US visa inquiries since the pending fee change was announced. He added that he doesn’t believe that the increased cost will deter Jamaicans from seeking a United States visa

A green paper outlining the reasons for a US visa denial is typically given to the applicant. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“A lot of people have reached out on the basis that they want to know if it’s going to raise [increase]. They want to apply before it’s raised. [People] are always going to reach out when they see anything in the media about the fee,” said Samuels.

“Lots of people reach out daily. Some people are trying to rush because you have some other persons on the Internet, like agents, who are saying, ‘Hey, the fee is going to raise, go ahead and apply,’ which I think is not good because sometimes persons put information out there before they get the full quote and then it kind of makes people become scared, and so then some persons are rushing to apply, even when they had no intention of applying,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Samuels shared that since the news broke his company has received 20 to 30 calls per day from individuals wanting to apply before the cost change takes effect.

The Expedite Travel Services CEO said while the increased cost is seen as something negative by most Jamaicans, it could be the opposite. He is theorising that the new legislation might see the United States approve more visas.

“The US being the US, I can understand where they are coming from because the US is around US$30 trillion in debt and, at the end of the day, they passed the Big Beautiful Bill. Of course, they have to find ways to pay the bill because you have some people who are saying the national debt within the US is going up, so they have to find some way to offset some of these costs,” said Samuels.

He added, while it is not good for Jamaica because we are a developing State, “in the US perspective, it’s a good thing for them because they need the additional money to offset their bill, and this is one of the ways they can get it, so they’re probably going to have to approve more people, and if that is the case then it’s not a bad thing.

“I feel like they want more than US$250, so they’re going to have to approve a little bit more people…there’s no way you can charge something if you don’t have in mind how much money you want to collect,” he reasoned.

According to data from the US Department of State, the number of US non-immigrant visas issued to Jamaica has steadily increased since 2020. In 2020, more than 28,000 of them were issued to Jamaica; that number jumped to 37,179 in 2021, and then 55,923 in 2022. Additionally, in 2023, there were 95,973 visas issued and 118,538 in 2024.

A breakdown of the number of non-immigrant visas issued in 2024 showed that there were 83,957 B1/B2 visas, used for business or pleasure, issued to Jamaicans. Student visas, F/M, issued accounted for 1,212 in the same year.

While the number of visas denied was not listed, data from the Department of Homeland Security’s annual Entry/Exit Overstay Report for 2023 showed that some 11,931 Jamaicans who travelled to the United States between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, for business or pleasure, were listed as suspected in-country overstays.

The numbers reflect a decline from 2022, at which time 16,061 Jamaicans using the same visas were listed as suspected in-country overstays.

Samuels said that, while the integrity fee is geared towards reducing the number of individuals who overstay their visit, he does not think it will be a deterrent.

“People are wasting money and buying visas for $300,000, $400,000. If they hear that they are going to get a visa for an extra US$250 they are going to find it fast…If they know that they gonna get an approved visa, but they have to pay a $200,000 integrity fee, they are going to find that too. If you tell them $1 million, they are going to find that too, and still do what they want to do,” he reasoned.

The Sunday Observer spoke with visa applicants and family members of applicants outside the US Embassy last Thursday and, while travel agents say people without a visa are rushing to apply before the fee increase, those who were denied have no intention of reapplying before the change.

Romario Bernard shared that he has no family in the United States, but has applied for a visa to travel to the US for vacation. Last Thursday was the third time he’s been denied, and he has no intentions of reapplying before the fee increase, if ever again. He also claimed the integrity fee will not deter people from overstaying.

“US$250 nah stop them,” said Bernard.

“It doesn’t make any sense. I really don’t see the purpose of it in terms of using it to deter people, because if somebody is going to ‘run off’, they’re going to run off regardless of the cost, so I don’t see how the cost makes sense,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Similar views were shared by Tyrone Pinnock, a man who shared that he was also denied a US visa on three occasions and is in no rush to submit another application.

“Sometimes a little man deh here and him get a break, and nothing nah gwaan for him and he doesn’t have much family. He probably has a mother and father, and they are old, and he feels like he can make a life somewhere else. When he goes over there [the US] and sees an opportunity, him nah bother come back,” he reasoned.

A woman who requested anonymity described the charge as “too much”.

“They want to live off us and we don’t have anything already,” she said.

She shared that she does not have a US visa, and the news has further deterred her from seeking one, because she would have to pay extra if approved.

“How we fi afford to get so much money? It doesn’t make any sense,” she said, visibly frustrated.

A group of individuals gathered outside the US Embassy shared that three university students seeking to go to a conference overseas had just been denied US visas. One woman shared that the fee was unreasonable for individuals who do get approved.

“People still ago run off if they want to run off, whether they charge it, yes or no, because they are going to say they paid to stay, so they are going to just stay,” she said.

One of the students who was denied last Thursday said it is also disappointing that the visa fee is non-refundable if you are denied. She said it was her second time applying and being refused, and she has no immediate plans to reapply.

“It’s just very much disappointing and distasteful to know that you’re applying and you’re getting rejected. They are just saying, ‘Oh, you’re not qualified; you don’t have enough ties to your country.’

“It totally feels like it’s unfair, especially for us as young individuals who are attending college, or whether we’re working part-time. It is totally unfair because we would like to go for the experience. We’re not running off, because we are still in school and that’s not an option,” she said.

Jamaicans waiting to enter the US Embassy in Kingston for their visa appointments. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Travel agent Soumoya Mattis, CEO of HappiStart Travel