What It Costs to Enter the US in 2026: ESTA, Visa Fees and the $250 Integrity Fee

How much US entry costs depends on one thing: whether your passport is in the Visa Waiver Program. VWP nationals, which covers most of Europe plus the UK, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and a handful of others, apply online for an ESTA and skip the embassy entirely. Everyone else needs a nonimmigrant visa, usually the B-1/B-2 visitor visa, with an application fee, an interview and now the integrity fee.

The price gap between the two routes used to be modest. After the 2025 fee changes it is wide: an ESTA runs $40.27, while a visitor visa comes to $435 once the integrity fee is collected, before any reciprocity fee for your nationality. If you qualify for ESTA, use it.

ESTA is the online authorization for visa-free visits of up to 90 days. The fee sat at $21 for years, then the budget law signed on July 4, 2025 (H.R. 1) nearly doubled it: $40 from September 30, 2025. A CPI adjustment published in November 2025 took it to $40.27 from January 1, 2026, and the fee now moves with inflation every year.

Outside the VWP, a US trip starts with the DS-160 form and the machine-readable visa (MRV) application fee: $185 for B-1/B-2 visitor visas, unchanged since 2023 and non-refundable whether or not the visa is approved.

The new cost is the visa integrity fee: $250 minimum, created by the same July 2025 law, charged when the visa is issued rather than when you apply. It covers nearly every nonimmigrant category, including B-1/B-2 visitors, F-1 students, H-1B workers and J-1 exchange visitors, dependents included, and it cannot be waived or reduced. The law indexes it to inflation from 2026 on.

Rollout has been messy. The fee applies to visas issued on or after October 1, 2025, but as of September 2026 collection is uneven: some consular posts charge it, others are still waiting on payment systems. Budget for it either way, and confirm the current status with the embassy handling your application.

Arriving by air or sea with a valid ESTA or visa, there is nothing more to pay at the border. Arriving by land from Mexico or Canada, travelers who need an I-94 arrival record pay $30 for it at the crossing, up from $6 before September 30, 2025.

Chinese nationals holding 10-year B-1/B-2 visas pay a separate $30 fee when they enroll or update their details in EVUS, the Electronic Visa Update System. Some nationalities also owe a visa issuance (reciprocity) fee that varies by country and visa type; the State Department publishes the amounts per country.

Every fee in this guide is paid online, and the trip itself assumes a working phone: the ESTA confirmation, return-flight and hotel proof an officer might ask about, then maps and a ride the moment you are through arrivals.

Day-pass roaming add-ons from most European and Asian carriers charge per day of use in the US, and over a two-week trip that quietly adds up to more than the ESTA fee itself. Pay-per-MB rates without an add-on are worse.

A USA eSIM installed before departure keeps that cost flat: data works from the arrivals hall, your home number stays active for calls and bank codes, and there is no carrier store queue after a long flight.