You Are Paying for Something That Should Be Free

You are not paying for knowledge, you are paying for typing

A consultant charges $500 to “prepare your tourist visa application”. You pay, relieved to have professional help. What happens behind the scenes? Someone opens the official government website, fills out the form with the information you provided, schedules your interview, and sends you a PDF.

All of that could have been done by you, at home, at no cost beyond the official fees.

What is free and always will be

Visa application forms are made available free of charge by the governments. The process was designed so that applicants can complete it themselves, without intermediaries. Here is what you can access directly:

• DS-160 (U.S. nonimmigrant visa) – an online form filled out directly on the Department of State website. Free. Available in multiple languages.
• Consular interview scheduling – done through the service provider’s system (such as CGI Federal for the U.S.), after paying the MRV fee. You schedule it yourself.
• DS-260 (Immigrant visa) – completed on the CEAC portal. Also free of additional charge.
• USCIS forms – I-130, I-140, I-485, I-765, and others are available on the official website. Detailed instructions accompany each form.

The official fees charged by governments already cover processing. There is no hidden “service fee” that justifies third-party involvement in basic steps.

Where money is most commonly wasted

A pattern exists in the market that turns administrative tasks into premium services. Consider:

• DS-160 completion: charged between $300 and $1,000 by some consultants. Average time to complete it yourself: 45 minutes to 2 hours.
• Simple document translation: billed as a “specialized service” when in many cases the applicant can handle the translation and certification themselves at minimal cost.
• Document organization: billed as an “eligibility analysis” when in practice it is simply scanning and uploading files following a publicly available checklist.
• “Interview simulation”: billed separately, when it should actually be part of any serious consultation.

What is actually worth paying for

Not everything is free. And not everything should be cheap. There are situations where professional guidance is not just useful, it is indispensable:

• Immigration strategy – when multiple pathways exist (tourism, work, investment, family reunification) and you need someone to analyze which one makes the most sense for your profile.
• Cases with complications – prior denials, admissibility issues, criminal history, or irregular status situations. These scenarios require real legal knowledge.
• Complex petitions – EB-1, EB-2 NIW, O-1, and other merit-based categories require sophisticated legal argumentation. Here, the professional genuinely makes a difference.
• Legal representation – if your case involves immigration court, you need an attorney. Not a consultant, not an influencer.

The practical rule

Before paying any amount, ask a simple question: what are they doing for me that I could not do myself with internet access?

If the answer is “fill out a form” or “schedule an interview”, save your money. If the answer is “analyze my profile within the legal context and help me make an informed decision”, then the investment may well be worth it.

Pay for expertise, not for form-filling. The difference between the two can mean thousands of dollars wasted, or wisely invested.

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

Leading journalism and editorial content at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps make immigration topics clear, trustworthy, and easy to understand. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.