Key Takeaways
- The U.S. is now the priciest by far. A B-1/B-2 tourist visa effectively costs about $435 once the new $250 Visa Integrity Fee is added on top of the $185 application fee โ more than double the next country.
- Everyone else clusters under $200. New Zealand (~$180), the UK (~$172), Canada (~$135), Australia (~$130) and the Schengen Area (โฌ90 / ~$97) lead the rest.
- 2026 pushed several fees up. The U.S. integrity fee, the UK's April 2026 rise to ยฃ135, and Australia's annual indexation to AUD 200 all landed this year.
- Bhutan is the real outlier. It charges a $100-per-night Sustainable Development Fee โ so a one-week trip costs ~$700, dwarfing any flat visa fee.
- Fees depend on your passport. Many countries charge reciprocity-based fees, and dozens of nationalities travel visa-free โ so what you pay depends heavily on where you're from.
Getting into another country can cost a little โ or a lot. Most tourist visas run somewhere between $50 and $200, but in 2026 one destination broke away from the pack: the United States, whose new Visa Integrity Fee pushed the real cost of a tourist visa to around $435. Here are the world’s most expensive tourist visas this year, mapped and ranked.
A note on the numbers: visa fees depend heavily on your nationality, and we use the standard government fee for travellers who need a visa (excluding the surcharges that visa-processing centres like VFS add on top). USD figures are approximate.
The most expensive tourist visas in 2026
Why the U.S. shot to the top
The U.S. tourist (B-1/B-2) visa has long carried a $185 application fee. The 2025 budget law added a separate $250 Visa Integrity Fee, collected when a visa is issued, taking the effective total to about $435 per person โ and it applies to dependents too, so a family of four now faces well over $1,700 in government fees. (Travellers from the ~40 Visa Waiver countries who use ESTA are exempt.) The fee is technically refundable if you comply with all your visa conditions, but in practice few will claim it.
What else changed in 2026
The U.S. wasn’t alone. The UK raised its Standard Visitor visa to ยฃ135 in April 2026, Australia indexed its visitor visa up to AUD 200, and New Zealand‘s visitor visa climbed to NZD 300 (on top of its NZD 100 tourist levy). The Schengen short-stay fee held at โฌ90, where it’s sat since mid-2024.
Beyond tourist visas: the truly eye-watering ones
Flat tourist-visa fees are pocket change next to a few special cases. Bhutan charges a $100-per-night Sustainable Development Fee, so a week in the country runs about $700 before anything else. And residency-by-investment โ the so-called “golden visas” โ operate on another scale entirely: the U.S. EB-5 investor visa requires an $800,000+ investment, while European golden visas typically demand โฌ250,000โโฌ700,000. Those buy the right to live somewhere, not just visit โ but they’re the most expensive “visas” on earth by a wide margin.
Full ranking
| # | Destination | Visa type | Local fee | USD | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | B-1/B-2 visitor | $185 MRV + $250 Integrity Fee | $435 | New 2026 Visa Integrity Fee |
| 2 | New Zealand | Visitor visa | NZD 300 | $180 | + NZD 100 tourist levy (IVL) |
| 3 | United Kingdom | Standard Visitor (6-mo) | ยฃ135 | $172 | Rose Apr 2026 |
| 4 | Canada | Visitor visa | CAD 100 + 85 biometrics | $135 | |
| 5 | Australia | Visitor (subclass 600) | AUD 200 | $130 | Indexed up Apr 2026 |
| 6 | Schengen Area | Short-stay (27 countries) | โฌ90 | $97 | |
| 7 | Brazil | e-Visa | US$80.90 | $81 | For US/CA/AU citizens |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | Tourist e-Visa | ~SAR 300 | $80 | + mandatory insurance |
| 9 | Russia | e-Visa | US$52 | $52 |
About the data
Figures are the standard visitor/short-stay visa fee charged by each government in 2026, for nationalities that require a visa, converted to U.S. dollars at mid-2026 rates. They exclude third-party service-centre charges (VFS Global, TLScontact, etc.), biometrics where billed separately is noted, and any travel levies. Because fees are frequently set by reciprocity, your actual cost can differ depending on your passport โ always check the official immigration site before you apply.
