The U.S. Department of State has issued a temporary final rule creating a paid expedite option for B-1/B-2 visitor visa interviews. Eligible applicants may pay an additional $750, on top of the standard $185 machine-readable visa fee, to secure an interview appointment within 10 business days, subject to availability.
On July 22, 2026, the department announced the first participating location: Mission Mexico, which includes the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and all U.S. consulates in Mexico. Reporting has specifically noted that the pilot launched in Mexico and not, as some had anticipated, in Brazil. The department has said additional consular posts may be added before the pilot concludes on December 31, 2026.
The limits of what the fee buys deserve emphasis. The rule expedites the interview date only. It does not guarantee visa issuance, it does not accelerate adjudication after the interview, and it does not relax any eligibility requirement — administrative processing, 221(g) requests, and refusals all remain possible outcomes. An applicant who misses or cancels an expedited appointment forfeits the additional $750; the fee is not refundable on a change of plans.
The program is a response to appointment wait times that at some posts have stretched many months, effectively pricing urgency into a system that previously rationed it by queue position and by discretionary expedite requests based on demonstrated emergency. That tradeoff is the substance of the criticism: applicants with an urgent humanitarian or business need but limited means are in the same queue they were before, while those able to pay move ahead of them.
For families of U.S.-based immigration applicants, the practical relevance is narrow but real. If a relative in Mexico needs to attend a graduation, a wedding, or a medical event on a fixed date, the expedite option is now available at a known price rather than through a discretionary request. Anyone considering it should confirm that the applicant is otherwise clearly qualified before paying, since $750 buys nothing but an earlier date on the calendar — and buys it back only if the appointment is kept.
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Source: U.S. Department of State temporary final rule (via National Law Review)