La tassa di 250 dollari sul visto imposta da Trump scatena una reazione globale: le compagnie aer…
If you’re planning to visit the United States in the near future, be prepared for a new and costly surprise before you even get on a plane. The government has introduced a $250 visa integrity fee. And this charge isn’t for the visa itself or for approval to enter the country. It’s simply for the privilege of applying. There is no guarantee you’ll get your money back if your application is rejected. And the rules about reimbursement are vague enough to be meaningless. For millions of people around the world, this is not a security measure. It’s a toll at the front gate, an expensive one, and it’s coming at exactly the wrong moment for America’s already struggling tourism industry. International visitors have been avoiding the United States in record numbers. The country’s image as a dream destination has been slipping for years, undermined by stricter border controls, stories of travelers detained or mistreated at airports, and the lingering after effects of the pandemic. The numbers are alarming. Fewer people are booking flights and airlines are cutting back routes not just for the season but permanently. These aren’t temporary adjustments to meet seasonal demand. They are signs of structural decline where entire markets have dried up to the point that keeping the flights alive no longer makes financial sense. On social media, photos tell the story more clearly than any government statistic. Rows of empty seats on long haul flights that used to be full. vast airport gates where only a handful of passengers board. Even during major events designed to attract global crowds, the absence of visitors is glaring. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was supposed to be a warm-up for the United States ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Instead, it turned into an embarrassment. Over 1 million seats went unsold across the tournament. Stadiums that were supposed to host capacity crowds were barely more than half full. Some of the biggest matches had vast empty sections and some smaller games had fewer than 4,000 people in attendance. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which can hold 70,000 fans, hosted a Chelsea versus Liverpool match with only 22,000 present. The images of empty stands told the world that America’s grip on the global sports tourism market is weaker than advertised. Instead of looking at why international interest is collapsing, whether it’s the high cost of travel, safety concerns, cultural barriers, or more attractive alternatives abroad, the Trump administration has decided to add another obstacle. This $250 fee targets travelers from countries outside the visa waiver program, which means most of South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. These are not the wealthy elite who can absorb extra costs without blinking. They are students saving to attend US universities, families pooling resources for a long- aaited vacation, professionals traveling to close business deals or attend conferences, and people visiting relatives. For many of them, an extra $250 per person is the difference between making the trip and canceling it altogether. The rules for this fee make it even worse. It is non-refundable. And while the administration says applicants could get their money back if they follow all visa rules and leave on time, the language is vague and offers no clear process. There is no legal guarantee, no appeals mechanism, no defined timeline for reimbursement. It’s essentially an interestfree loan to the US government with repayment entirely at their discretion. Even the US travel association has criticized the move, calling it a junk fee and comparing it to the hidden charges of the airline and ticketing industries. Economically, the damage will be significant. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the US is projected to lose over 12 billion in international visitor spending in 2025 alone. Visitor spending is expected to drop from 181 billion in 2024 to under 169 billion in 2025. A 7% fall in just 1 year and a 22.5% drop from prepandemic highs. The US will be the only one of 184 economies tracked by the WTTC to see a decline in tourism revenue this year. Every percentage point decline means about 1.8 8 billion less circulating in the economy, hitting hotels, restaurants, airlines, local attractions, and the millions of workers they employ. While the US raises barriers, other countries are removing them. France is making multi-entry visas easier to obtain. Japan and South Korea are launching campaigns with free transport passes and discounted hotel rates. Portugal is offering digital nomad visas to attract long-term visitors. Even China, which has historically had strict entry requirements, has been easing visa rules for dozens of countries. These nations understand that tourism isn’t just about short-term profit. It’s about long-term relationships, trade, cultural exchange, and influence. America’s new policy sends the opposite message that visitors are a burden unless they are wealthy enough to pay extra just to get to the starting line. The consequences will go beyond tourism. International travel is a powerful tool of soft power. Every student who studies in the US. Every business traveler who signs a deal at an American conference. Every family that vacations in New York or Los Angeles becomes a living advertisement for the country. They go home and share their experiences, encouraging others to visit or invest. When those visitors stop coming, the loss isn’t just financial. It’s a slow erosion of goodwill, influence, and cultural relevance. Student travel is already shrinking. International enrollment in US universities has dropped by over 11% in the last year alone and by 15% in the past 4 years. Canada, the UK, and Australia are all attracting those students with lower costs, faster visa processing, and fewer bureaucratic hurdles. Every student lost to another country represents lost tuition, lost innovation, and lost future economic connections. The way this fee was introduced makes it even harder to defend. It wasn’t debated openly in Congress. It wasn’t carefully studied or publicly justified. It was slipped quietly into a lastminute budget deal, avoiding public scrutiny. This wasn’t the product of a considered immigration strategy. It was a political calculation. Raise revenue from people who can’t vote while avoiding raising taxes at home. The fallout is already visible. Airlines are quietly pulling back from the US market. Conferences are moving to more welcoming cities overseas. Business deals that might have been signed in New York or San Francisco are being finalized in Tokyo, Dubai, and Paris. The major global events the US has invested billions to host. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2028 Olympics, the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations, risk becoming humiliating showcases of empty stadiums and muted crowds. The reality is that most people who visit the US are not flying on private jets or staying in luxury suites. They are middle class travelers from Canada, Germany, India, Nigeria, Brazil, and beyond. They are the ones filling restaurants, hotels, and attractions. They are the ones keeping local tourism economies alive. And they are the ones most likely to be turned away by a $250 per person fee with no clear benefit. For a family of four from Argentina, that’s $1,000 gone before they’ve even booked a hotel or bought a single ticket to an attraction. That money could have supported American businesses. Instead, it will disappear into federal coffers without helping the communities that depend on tourism. The United States is choosing the worst possible time to make itself less accessible. At a moment when it should be inviting the world back, repairing its reputation, and competing with aggressive tourism campaigns from other countries, it is raising barriers, adding costs, and sending the message that visitors are not a priority. If this continues, the sound in America’s stadiums during the next global event won’t be the roar of the crowd. It will be the silence of empty seats.
If you’re planning a trip to the United States, there’s a costly new hurdle before you even board a plane — a $250 “Visa Integrity Fee.” This isn’t payment for your visa or even approval to enter; it’s a non-refundable charge just for applying. For millions of travelers from South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, this is more than a policy change — it’s a barrier that could cancel their travel plans entirely.
International tourism to the US is already in decline, with airlines cutting routes, major sports events seeing empty seats, and the country projected to lose over $12 billion in visitor spending in 2025. Meanwhile, other countries like France, Japan, Portugal, and China are removing travel barriers and attracting global visitors.
In this video, we break down why this controversial fee is sparking outrage worldwide, how it will hurt the US economy, and why it could lead to empty stadiums during the 2026 FIFA World Cup and beyond.
📉 Tourism decline data
💰 Economic impact explained
🌍 Global reaction from travelers and industries
⚠️ Why this could damage America’s reputation
#VisaIntegrityFee #USTourismCrisis #TravelNews #USVisa #TourismDecline #FIFA2026 #TravelAlert #USImmigrationPolicy #VisaFee #EmptyStadiums #EconomyNews
1 Comment
Has Trump got any business sense? US is not the center of the world. Nobody has to make a pilgrimage there.