Changes to visa fees and appointment scheduling procedure

Starting Tuesday, April 3rd, U.S. Embassy San Salvador will implement several changes to its scheduling process for visa interview appointments.

Specifically, the embassy will begin using a new telephone number to schedule visa appointments, and a new website will come online to allow applicants to schedule their appointments via the internet. The new phone number and website will be:

Phone Number:  (503) 2113-0344 or 2211-9392

Website: www.ustraveldocs.com/sv

Under this new process, applicants may make consular appointments by phone by dialing the new number from any landline in El Salvador, which will cost the same as a local call.

Alternately, applicants may use the new website to pay their visa application fees, choose the date and time of their interview, and specify a shipping address for their passport. Online services will be available 24 hours a day.

Another change being made to the visa application procedure involves the method of payment. Beginning on April 3, there will be two options available for paying visa application fees. The first option is to pay with a credit card online, via the new website. For applicants who do not use a credit card, the second option will be to print a payment voucher from the website and bring it to any CITI Bank branch location to make a payment in person. Once a payment is made through either method, applicants will be able to choose their consular appointment date either via the website or by phone.

Finally, under the new procedure, home delivery will no longer be an option for passports. Instead, passports will be delivered to a CARGOEXPRESO office of the applicant’s choice, where applicants may pick up their passports no additional cost. Applicants may select the delivery location via the new website.

As always, the first step in applying for a U.S. visa is to complete the Non-Immigrant Visa Application Form, DS-160, online at: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/.

For general information on applying for U.S. visas, please see to the Embassy’s website at: http://spanish.sansalvador.usembassy.gov/servicio_de_visas.html.

Visa Processing Fees to Change on April 13, 2012

Effective April 13, 2012, the Department of State will adjust visa processing fees. The fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.

The Department is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees. For a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The nonimmigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.

Although most categories of nonimmigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens) will decrease.

Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees

Because of a reallocation of costs associated with immigrant visas, all categories of immigrant visa processing fees will decrease.

Immigrant Visa Processing Fees