What an E-2 Visa Actually Costs in 2026, and Why the $250 Fee Is Not on the Bill Yet

Short answer. As of August 2026, an E-2 costs $315 at a consulate plus a nationality-specific reciprocity fee, or $1,015 to $1,615 in USCIS fees if you change status inside the United States. The $250 visa integrity fee is enacted law that nobody has implemented, and it is not on the State Department’s published fee schedule. Budget for it. Do not treat it as a published requirement.

What the government charges, all of it

What is true about the $250

Pub. L. No. 119-21, § 100007, signed July 4, 2025, creates a $250 visa integrity fee on nonimmigrant visa issuance, indexed to inflation beginning in fiscal year 2026. The statute includes a conditional refund mechanism that has never been implemented and that no applicant should build into a budget.

DHS published a notice on July 22, 2025 saying the fee “requires cross-agency coordination before implementing” and would be addressed “in a future publication.” No implementing rule or notice has been published since. The fee does not appear on the State Department’s published schedule of consular fees, and State issued a consular fee rule on June 9, 2026 without mentioning it.

There are scattered reports that some posts have begun collecting it anyway. I have not been able to confirm them, and the sources disagree about when collection supposedly began. Budget for the fee and confirm what a specific post is charging before you send money.

The line item most estimates leave out

The reciprocity fee. If the visa is issued, a nationality-specific issuance fee may apply under the State Department’s reciprocity schedule. It varies widely, and for some treaty countries it runs into the hundreds of dollars per applicant, multiplied by a spouse and two children.

An E-2 cost estimate that gives you $315 and stops is incomplete. Look up your own country before you budget.

One trap that has cost real money

Banks usually want the entity documents before they will open an account, so a foreign founder often files before he has one. That used to be survivable. Since October 28, 2025, USCIS no longer accepts paper checks or money orders, and payment must be by ACH debit on Form G-1650 or credit card on Form G-1450, drawing on a U.S. bank or a U.S.-issued card. The petition now gets rejected over the payment method, not the merits.

A narrow exemption exists on Form G-1651 for applicants without banking access or facing undue hardship. It is an exception you request, not a default you rely on.

Open the account before you file.

The costs that dwarf everything in the table

Legal fees, the business plan, the entity formation, the lease, and the investment itself. The government fees are noise by comparison, and the investment is the only number with no published figure attached to it. That question has its own post: How Much Do You Have to Invest for an E-2 Visa? [/e-2-visa-minimum-investment/]

Send us the E-2 cost estimate someone has given you and we will tell you what is missing from it. A thirty-minute review is cheaper than discovering the gap after you have wired funds. Call or text 512.761.8479.