U.S. Adjusts Fees for Some Visa and Consular Services

March 3, 2005
No. 11/05

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The United States Department of State has announced a global adjustment of consular fees, effective March 8, 2005.  The adjustment applies to both domestic U.S. and overseas consular services.  In Ethiopia, the adjustments primarily affect applicants for Immigrant Visas and participants in the Diversity Visa Program.  Fees for most Non-Immigrant Visas remain unchanged.
The State Department is required by law to recover through user fees the actual costs of providing most consular services.  The Department conducts periodic comprehensive fee-assessment studies to determine whether existing consular fees are covering these costs, after which fees are adjusted accordingly.

Consular fees are approved by the U.S. Congress; the last consular fee changes were made in 2002.  Recovering the actual cost of providing consular services is essential to maintaining and improving high-quality customer service, utilizing advances in information technology, and enhancing the security features of the consular function.

As part of the current adjustment, the Immigrant Visa fee increases from $335 (2,914.50 Birr) to $380 (3,306 Birr).  The Diversity Visa processing fee will increase from $100 (870 Birr) to $375 (3,262.50 Birr).  This change means that, together with other fees involved in issuing a Diversity Visa, the total Diversity Visa fee will be $820 (7,134 Birr).

A full description of the new fee schedule can be found on the State Department’s website at:  http://travel.state.gov/about/info/customer/customer_322.html.
For further questions about how the changes may affect a particular application, please contact the U.S. Embassy’s Consular Section by telephone at 24-24-24 or via e-mail at consaddis@state.gov.