(UNITED STATES) — The U.S. Department of State set a new $750 fee this month for faster tourist and business visa interviews, as appointment backlogs at several major consulates stretched past a year and international arrivals to the United States fell sharply.

The Temporary Final Rule, published on June 9, 2026, created a pilot Fast-Track program for B1/B2 applicants at selected posts. From July 1 to December 31, 2026, applicants who pay for an Expedited Nonimmigrant Visa interview appointment can secure an interview within 10 business days.

The move comes as official State Department data, updated on June 18, 2026, showed estimated waits of 14 months in Toronto, 13.5 months in Kinshasa and 12.5 months in Vancouver. Bogota and Calgary each stood at 12 months, Abuja at 11.5 months, and Mumbai at 7 months, down from 9.

State Department officials cast the pilot as a way to test whether travelers would pay to avoid long queues. “The Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process. Our embassies and consulates release additional appointment slots regularly, and this pilot service is a proof-of-concept designed to assess demand from applicants wishing to avoid longer wait times.”

Another federal move added pressure to the travel system. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on May 27, 2026 that the department was “drawing up plans” to halt customs processing for international flights at airports in “sanctuary jurisdictions,” including SFO and JFK.

Mullin framed that step as leverage against local governments on immigration enforcement. “If they’re a sanctuary city and they’re receiving international flights. but they’re not going to enforce immigration policy—maybe we need to have a really hard look at that.”

Backlogs in the US Tourist Visa system now sit alongside weaker travel numbers. The National Travel and Tourism Office said international arrivals in April 2026 dropped 14.1% year over year. Total international visitation for 2025 was 68.3 million, down 5.5% from 2024.

Those numbers marked the first annual decline outside the pandemic in more than a decade. They also arrived just as the United States prepared to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an event the travel industry had expected to lift inbound tourism.

The long lines reflect a series of policy changes rather than a single disruption. In early 2025, the eligibility window for renewing a visa without an interview fell from 48 months to 12 months. That change pushed millions of applicants back into in-person interview queues.

Another layer took effect on January 1, 2026, when expanded social media vetting began for 39 nationalities. More screening per case means more officer time per interview, and slower movement through already crowded schedules.

The result is a travel market split by time and money. Families in Canada, Colombia and Nigeria now face a choice between booking trips more than a year ahead or paying the $935 total needed for a standard B1/B2 application and the new expedited appointment. That total combines the regular $185 visa fee with the new $750 surcharge.

For many applicants, that new fee turns speed into a premium product. A traveler who needs a short-notice trip for tourism, family visits or business meetings can try the pilot. A traveler who cannot absorb the extra cost stays in the regular line, where the wait can stretch past the travel season itself.

Canada illustrates the pressure clearly because several of its posts sit among the longest waits in the system. Toronto stood at 14 months, Vancouver at 12.5 months, and Calgary at 12 months. Those are three high-volume locations in a country that supplies large numbers of short-term U.S. visitors.

Other large sending markets also remained clogged. Bogota showed a 12 months wait, Abuja 11.5 months, and Kinshasa 13.5 months. Mumbai improved to 7 months, but even that shorter line remains long for travelers planning a routine visit.

The federal government has pointed applicants to the State Department’s visa wait time page, where interview estimates shift by post. The new fee rule also sits in the Federal Register, which set out the pilot structure and the additional charge.

Travel data tracked by the National Travel and Tourism Office showed the broader economic stakes. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimated in January 2026 that long waits and new social media disclosure rules could reduce international travel demand and put up to 157,000 American jobs at risk.

The travel industry has tied those concerns to major event traffic expected this summer. The U.S. Travel Association warned that current wait times could cost the U.S. economy billions in lost spending from World Cup fans who cannot secure visas in time. A visa bottleneck that blocks leisure travelers also limits hotel stays, restaurant spending, local transport and retail purchases.

That dynamic gives the State Department’s new pilot a narrow but plain purpose. It does not erase the queue. It creates a paid side door for a share of applicants while consulates continue to release regular appointments.

The department’s own statement described the service as a test of demand, not a permanent fix. The quote released on June 18, 2026 stressed national security and public safety standards while noting that embassies and consulates “release additional appointment slots regularly.”

The Department of Homeland Security has also kept travel policy in sharper political focus this year. Its travel and tourism information page sits alongside Mullin’s warning that the department may halt customs processing at airports in “sanctuary jurisdictions,” a proposal that would hit some of the country’s busiest international gateways if carried out.

Those combined pressures leave a visitor seeking a summer trip to the United States with fewer easy paths than in earlier years. The standard process for a US Tourist Visa can now stretch well beyond a travel season at several posts. The Fast-Track program offers a faster route, but only to applicants willing and able to pay a much higher price.

Whether the pilot changes travel volumes will become clearer after December 31, 2026, when the program ends unless officials extend or revise it. Until then, the numbers already in place are stark: waits of up to 14 months, a total expedited cost of $935, and a tourism market that has already started to contract.