To pay the US visa fee in India, you use the official scheduling portal at ustraveldocs.com and choose one of four methods: NEFT bank transfer, UPI, an Indian debit or credit card, or cash at a designated Axis Bank or Citibank branch. The fee for most nonimmigrant categories, including B1/B2 tourist and F/M student visas, is $185, converted to rupees at the consular exchange rate (₹94 per dollar as of early 2026). Payment is non-refundable, must be made before you can book your interview, and the receipt stays valid for 365 days from the date of payment.
How Much You’ll Pay
The fee is set in US dollars but charged in rupees at the consular exchange rate posted on the US Embassy website, and that rate shifts, so check it close to your payment date.1U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. Important Visa Information
- $185 for non-petition-based visas, including B1/B2 (business and tourism), F (academic student), and M (vocational student).
- $205 for petition-based visas, including H categories (temporary workers and trainees).
The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable whether your visa is approved or denied.2Travel.State.Gov. Fees for Visa Services At $1 = ₹94 effective February 2, 2026, the $185 fee works out to roughly ₹17,390.3U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. ACS Fees The exact rupee figure appears on your payment slip.
Generate Your Payment Slip First
Every payment method starts the same way. Create an account on ustraveldocs.com, log in, and select your nonimmigrant visa category. The system calculates your fee in INR and generates a payment reference slip tied to your profile. That slip goes by different names depending on the method you choose: a Challan for cash, a Virtual Account Number for certain electronic methods, or a Unique Beneficiary Code for NEFT.
The slip carries the exact rupee amount, the beneficiary account details, and your unique reference number. Print it or save it carefully. If the reference number or amount is even slightly off when you pay, the system won’t match your payment to your profile, and you’ll be stuck waiting on a resolution instead of booking your appointment.
Paying by NEFT Bank Transfer
NEFT lets you pay from any Indian rupee bank account through your online banking platform. Add the US Visa fee account as a new beneficiary using the IFSC code, beneficiary account number, and beneficiary name from your slip. Most banks impose a cooling period of a few hours to a full day before a newly added beneficiary can receive transfers, so plan ahead.
The transfer amount must match the INR figure on your slip exactly. Once the transfer completes, your bank issues a Unique Transaction Reference (UTR) number. Save it. That’s your proof of payment if activation goes sideways. NEFT processes in batches rather than instantly, so funds usually reach the recipient within a couple of hours, and you can typically schedule your appointment about two business days after a successful NEFT payment.
Paying by UPI
UPI works through apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, or your bank’s UPI-enabled app. The portal generates a UPI payment request or QR code linked to your reference slip. You complete the payment inside your UPI app, and the transaction confirmation is generated automatically.
UPI settles almost instantly compared with NEFT’s batch processing, which usually makes the activation step faster. The amount still has to be exact, and you should screenshot or save the transaction ID immediately.
Paying by Debit or Credit Card
You can enter Indian debit or credit card details directly on the payment page after generating your slip. This is the most straightforward option because the payment links to your profile automatically without requiring you to key in beneficiary details or visit a branch. Card payments activate faster than NEFT or cash since the transaction confirmation is immediate.
Paying Cash at a Bank Branch
Cash payments go through designated Axis Bank or Citibank branches. Print a customized fee collection slip from the ustraveldocs portal; it carries your unique payment reference number and the exact INR amount, and the teller uses it to credit your payment to the correct US Visa account.
Bring the exact cash amount. Tellers process the payment based on what the slip says, and overpaying or underpaying creates complications. After the transaction, the teller stamps a receipt and gives you a unique receipt number. Hold onto it. Cash payments generally take one to two business days to activate.
Activation and Booking Your Interview
Paying the fee only unlocks the scheduler once the system verifies your transaction. Card and UPI payments often activate almost immediately. NEFT usually takes roughly two to four hours, though the portal advises waiting two business days before trying to schedule. Cash activates in one to two business days.
When your receipt is active, log back into ustraveldocs.com and enter your receipt number if it hasn’t already been linked automatically. The scheduling calendar then opens for both the biometric enrollment appointment at a Visa Application Center and the visa interview at a US Consulate or Embassy. Both are mandatory, and skipping biometrics can get your interview cancelled.4U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India. Scheduling Immigrant Visas Appointments
If Something Goes Wrong With Your Payment
If your transaction fails or you get an error screen, don’t try paying again right away. Repeated attempts and duplicate transactions can produce double charges that take weeks to untangle. Wait a few hours, log back in, and check whether the first payment actually went through before you retry.
If money was deducted with no receipt, or you were charged twice, submit a refund request through the portal’s contact form. Eligible refunds for duplicate charges are typically processed within 10 to 15 business days, though card refunds can take up to 30 calendar days to appear on your statement. One detail catches a lot of people: a wrong amount, even by a single rupee, means the system won’t match the payment to your profile. Confirm the exact INR figure on your slip before initiating any transfer.
Receipt Validity and the 365-Day Window
Your MRV fee receipt is valid for 365 days from the date of payment. You have to schedule your interview appointment within that window, though the interview itself can take place after the 365 days as long as the appointment was booked before the receipt expired.5Travel.State.Gov. Expiration of Covid-Era Visa Application Fee Receipts Let the receipt expire without booking, and you lose the fee entirely. There are no extensions.
Rescheduling deserves the same caution. You can generally move your appointment to a different date inside the validity window, but attempting to reschedule after the receipt has expired forfeits both the slot and the fee. Interview wait times at some Indian consulates run to several months, so the safer move is to book the earliest available slot as soon as your receipt activates, even if you plan to reschedule later. Sitting on an active receipt without booking is how most people end up paying twice.