U.S. Expands $750 Expedited B-1/B-2 Visa Interview Program
The main entrance of the Embassy of the United States of America in downtown Ottawa, pictured in May 2025. Canada is one of several countries included in the U.S. State Department’s expanded pilot program for expedited B-1/B-2 visa interviews. (Photo: Hayden Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0)
The State Department has added U.S. consular posts in Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Honduras to a pilot program allowing certain B-1/B-2 visa applicants to pay an additional $750 for an interview appointment within 10 business days, subject to availability.
The expansion took effect Aug. 18 and follows the program’s July 21 launch at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and U.S. consulates across Mexico. The voluntary pilot is scheduled to run through Dec. 31, 2026.
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Click hereApplicants seeking visitor visas for business or tourism must first pay the standard $185 nonimmigrant visa application fee, or MRV fee, and schedule a regular interview appointment. Those with a future appointment and an unexpired MRV fee receipt may then be eligible to select a “Paid Expedite” option, if it is offered at their post and slots are available.
The $750 fee is charged per applicant and is separate from the regular visa fee. Consular posts will make a limited number of expedited appointments available each day.
Once an applicant selects an expedited appointment, payment must be completed within 10 minutes to secure the slot, according to the State Department. The appointment cannot be changed or rescheduled, and applicants who miss or cancel it forfeit the nonrefundable fee.
The program provides an earlier interview date only and does not guarantee faster visa adjudication or approval. Applicants will undergo the same security screening, vetting, and eligibility review required of all U.S. visa applicants.
The department said applicants who pay for an expedited interview may select premium passport-delivery options, when available, at no additional cost.
Participating posts include the U.S. Embassy and all consulates in Canada; the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia; the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala; the U.S. Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica; the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; as well as the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Mexico.
The paid option is limited to applicants seeking B visas who have a scheduled future interview. It is not available to visa-renewal applicants eligible for an interview waiver, the department said.
Applicants whose requests for regular emergency visitor-visa appointments were denied may still use the paid option if they meet eligibility requirements. Each member of a group application must pay the $750 fee individually if seeking an expedited appointment.
The State Department said it may add more locations during the pilot period.