US Embassy visa application fee query

SAJ

Hi I'm looking for others experiences regarding payment of the MRV fee of $160 payable to the US Embassy for Visa applicants.

It states that "You must bring to the interview proof of payment of the non-refundable visa application fee by a Euro bank draft or Irish Postal Order made payable to "US Embassy".

This is fine, and was no problem last year when applying for a Summer J1. However, my bank (Bank of Ireland) no longer do bank drafts for values less than 500 euro, and the post office doesn't denominate in a currency other than euro. How have others got around this issue? Thanks in advance.

biddywiddy

On the US Embassy website, the fee required for each Visa is listed in euro and in US dollars.

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/non-immigrant_visas/niv-fees.html

I bought a money order for 128 euro in the Post Office. There was a small fee - I'm not sure how much because I bought my stamp for the SAE at the same time and the total was less than 140 euro. This was accepted in the Embassy at my J-Visa appointment in early June.

SAJ

Thank you.

As long as it matches the exchange rate on the website, a postal/money order for 128 euro is fine so.

I appreciate the help!

lil_lisa

I would strongly recommend either finding somewhere to give you one in US Dollars or, if you have to go to the post office, to get it the morning of (which might not be possible if your appointment is early in the morning). I was once turned away on a Monday morning because I had money order made out from the previous Friday and come my interview the exchange rate had changed ever so slightly.

SAJ

I had no luck with either the bank or the post office when I asked for a draft/order denominated in dollars as I had planned to do originally. There's no chance of getting one the morning of either with the interview being at 8 am and with the email I received stating, "If your interview is scheduled on or after the 19th of July (date of interview), please make sure that you pay the appropriate MRV fee ($160 for most cases, $190 for petition based cases and $270 for E visa cases) prior to the 18th of July".

At the moment the only option seems to be a 128 euro money order. It's slightly annoying that the bank no longer does the appropriate bank drafts.

jjbrien

Go to Ulster Bank you can get a US dollar draft on the spot without the need to order it. Will save you a lot of time and effort

biddywiddy

Is there any information on your documentation about the fee - must it be paid in dollars?

When I made my Embassy appointment, I was told over the phone that the money order could be in USD or euro, including the amount expected of each. When my boyfriend visited the Embassy for his Green Card interview, he was told that his payment must be USD.

If you want to err on the side of caution, then you should probably get a money order for the USD amount, as advised above.