Published June 23, 2026 Β· by Hijrat β visa consultants, Islamabad & Rawalpindi
If you are planning to visit the United States from Pakistan in 2026 β for tourism, family, business meetings or medical treatment β the visa you need is the B1/B2 nonimmigrant visitor visa. Two questions matter most before you start: how much it costs, and how long you will wait for an interview. Here is an honest, up-to-date picture for Pakistani applicants.
The core cost of a US visit visa is the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fee, which is US $185 for the B1/B2 category in 2026. You pay this before booking your interview, and it is non-refundable whether your visa is approved or refused. The receipt is generally valid for one year from the date of payment, so you must schedule and attend your interview within that window or pay again. The fee is the same for adults and children.
A new US $250 βVisa Integrity Feeβ was created by US law signed on 4 July 2025. It applies to most nonimmigrant visa holders, including B1/B2 visitors from Pakistan. Two points matter. On timing: as of mid-2026 the fee is not yet being collected β US agencies have not finalised the collection mechanism, and implementation is widely expected before 30 September 2026, with no firm start date confirmed. On payment: when it does take effect, the fee is charged at the time the visa is issued, not at application, so refused applicants would not pay it. Visa Waiver Program travellers are exempt, but Pakistan is not in that programme, so Pakistani applicants should budget for this fee once it goes live.
Wait times are the bigger practical hurdle. As of early-to-mid 2026, the wait for a B1/B2 visitor interview has been running at roughly six months at the US Embassy in Islamabad and around seven months or more in Karachi. These figures move week to week with staffing and demand, and they do not include any extra time for administrative processing (a β221(g)β review) after the interview. Because of these long queues, applying early β well before any planned travel date β is the single most useful thing you can do.
Pay the MRV fee, complete your DS-160 form carefully, and book the earliest available slot you can find; appointment calendars open and shift frequently, so check often. Keep your supporting documents β proof of funds, ties to Pakistan, and a clear travel purpose β ready in advance so a sudden earlier slot does not catch you unprepared. If you also need documents attested for your trip, handle that in parallel rather than after your interview.
We help applicants from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and across Pakistan prepare a clean B1/B2 application: DS-160 completion, fee payment guidance, interview preparation and document organisation. Read more about the visas we handle on our visas page, arrange any required paperwork through our attestation service, or start your application.
Get your B1/B2 application prepared properly the first time β DS-160, fee guidance and interview coaching from a team based in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Disclaimer: US visa fees, rules and appointment wait times change frequently and are decided solely by the US government. The figures above reflect publicly reported information as of June 2026 and may have changed. Always confirm current fees and wait times on the official US Department of State and ustraveldocs.com websites before applying. Hijrat is an independent visa consultancy, is not affiliated with the US government, and cannot guarantee visa approval.