Business visitors and tourists hoping to enter the United States may soon be able to jump the embassy interview queue—for a price. In a Temporary Final Rule that took effect on 1 July 2026, the U.S. Department of State created a six-month pilot that allows certain consular posts to offer B-1/B-2 visa applicants an interview slot within 10 business days if the traveler pays a supplemental “Premium Expedited Non-Immigrant Visa Interview Appointment Service” fee of US $750 on top of the regular US $185 MRV fee. Exactly which embassies and consulates will participate has not yet been announced, and appointment availability will be capped. Although the pilot does not guarantee that a visa will be issued—normal eligibility reviews, security checks and administrative processing still apply—it does promise faster access to an interview date, which has become the biggest bottleneck in post-pandemic visa operations. Wait times for B-category interviews still exceed six months at many high-volume posts in India, Mexico and Brazil, delaying critical short-term assignments and contract negotiations for U.S. companies.
![State Department launches $750 “Premium Expedited” B-1/B-2 visa-interview pilot]()
At this juncture, many enterprises lean on specialized visa agencies like VisaHQ to monitor appointment inventory in real time, prepare error-free applications, and, when necessary, arrange alternative filing strategies. VisaHQ’s U.S. visa portal aggregates consular updates and provides hands-on assistance for both standard and expedited B-1/B-2 filings, which can save travelers valuable time and reduce the risk of costly rescheduling.
For mobility managers the program raises both opportunities and dilemmas. On the positive side, the fee offers a predictable path for executives who cannot wait months for a slot. On the negative side, the price tag—roughly four times the standard MRV fee—creates budget and equity questions: will companies agree to pay, and if so, for whom? Unlike the USCIS premium-processing service, the State Department pilot sets no service-level guarantee or refund mechanism if an interview cannot be scheduled within the promised window. Employers should begin mapping high-priority travel over the next six months and flag those passengers whose deals, plant commissioning or board meetings hinge on fixed dates. Because the Department will announce participating posts on a rolling basis, proactive travelers should open their profile in the relevant scheduling portal and monitor appointment calendars daily. Where the pilot is not offered, traditional third-country national strategies—booking in a neighboring country with shorter queues—will remain important. If the pilot succeeds, officials have hinted it could be expanded to other visa classes or made permanent. Conversely, a tepid uptake could reinforce calls from Congress to redirect consular resources to screening rather than speed. Either way, the experiment confirms that fee-based prioritization is now part of the visa-processing toolkit, and mobility teams should update travel policies accordingly.
At this juncture, many enterprises lean on specialized visa agencies like VisaHQ to monitor appointment inventory in real time, prepare error-free applications, and, when necessary, arrange alternative filing strategies. VisaHQ’s U.S. visa portal aggregates consular updates and provides hands-on assistance for both standard and expedited B-1/B-2 filings, which can save travelers valuable time and reduce the risk of costly rescheduling.
For mobility managers the program raises both opportunities and dilemmas. On the positive side, the fee offers a predictable path for executives who cannot wait months for a slot. On the negative side, the price tag—roughly four times the standard MRV fee—creates budget and equity questions: will companies agree to pay, and if so, for whom? Unlike the USCIS premium-processing service, the State Department pilot sets no service-level guarantee or refund mechanism if an interview cannot be scheduled within the promised window. Employers should begin mapping high-priority travel over the next six months and flag those passengers whose deals, plant commissioning or board meetings hinge on fixed dates. Because the Department will announce participating posts on a rolling basis, proactive travelers should open their profile in the relevant scheduling portal and monitor appointment calendars daily. Where the pilot is not offered, traditional third-country national strategies—booking in a neighboring country with shorter queues—will remain important. If the pilot succeeds, officials have hinted it could be expanded to other visa classes or made permanent. Conversely, a tepid uptake could reinforce calls from Congress to redirect consular resources to screening rather than speed. Either way, the experiment confirms that fee-based prioritization is now part of the visa-processing toolkit, and mobility teams should update travel policies accordingly.
