When do the visa's for umrah open again?

Why are US visas so expensive?

• With a minimum of $140 application fee (at least it's pretty consistent), non-immigrant visas to the United States, this is very expensive. In some countries, application fees are lower, and then there will be an additional fee for issuance if accepted. However, US fees are on average higher than anywhere else. Even the ESTA system costs $14.00. As a result, visas for US citizens cost comparatively more than they do for many other nationalities, in a number of countires. And many of these countries allow US citizens to visit their countries for a lower fee (or for free), for short visits . US visas have a longer validity, on average, so for people who visit 2-3 times in the period, prices may even out (tourist visas often valid for shorter periods of time, and are often single-entry visas). My main point, why are the US visas so expensive? Is there any practical reason for this? Also, in addition to their strict criteria in determining entry, the requirement of a Visa for transiting through a US airport makes it extremely difficult for latin americans to travel to asia, and considerably more expensive than for citizens of countries that may freely transit the United States (other options are from south america, Canada, and the infrequent Boeing 767s operated by Aeromexico to Tokyo and Shanghai)

• Answer:

  The visa fee is levied in order to compensate the costs arising to the U.S. government for processing visa applications. You cannot expect the U.S: tax payers to bear these costs. In comparison to other countries the U.S. visa is still cheap as it is valid for 10 years in general. A visa for a trip to the United Kingdom [valid for 180 days] is £76 or $125; the visa to visit 26 European countries is €60 or $92 for one trip up to 90 days..