The US government will charge increased fees from non-immigrant visa applicants from Jun 4 this year.

The visa application fees had been re-evaluated due to increased service costs and the charges will apply in all countries, a US embassy press release said on Monday.

The embassy added that the present non-immigrant visa fee of $ 131 was insufficient to cover the total cost of processing.

From Jun 4, the visitors of four categories--B1/B2 tourists, business visitors, students and exchange visitors--will have to pay $140.

The applicants for petition-based visas will be charged $150. This category includes: H visa for temporary workers and trainees; L visa for intra-company transferees; O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability; P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers; Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors and R visa for religious occupations.

Application fees for K visa--for US citizens' fiancés--will rise to $350 and E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors will be $390.

All applicants with interview appointments scheduled on or after Jun 4 will be required to pay the new visa application fees, the release added.

Those applicants, who have paid the previous fee of $131 but have interview dates on or after Jun 4, will have to pay the extra amount on their interview date.

The applicants can pay their application fees at the Standard Chartered Bank or at the Saimon Group's office, both located in the capital's Gulshan.