Do I count as a U.S. resident?
It decides whether you pay the $100 nonresident fee and whether you can buy the $80 pass.
Answers for each case
U.S. citizens
You pay resident prices, including if you live abroad. Bring a U.S. passport or a state driver's license or ID.
Green card holders
A Permanent Resident card is listed as proof of residency, so you pay resident prices.
Visa holders living in the U.S.
Official pages do not say whether people living in the U.S. on a visa (for example H-1B or F-1) count as residents. They only list the documents accepted as proof. Our totals treat them as nonresidents, and show what changes if they count as residents.
What NPS does say: a driver's license or ID issued by a U.S. state is accepted as proof. If you hold one, rangers may accept it, but NPS hasn't said visa holders qualify. Until they do, budget for nonresident prices.
Visitors from abroad
You pay the $100 nonresident fee at 11 parks unless you enter with an annual pass. You can buy the $250 nonresident pass, or ride in a car with a U.S. resident who has a pass.
Children
Visitors aged 15 and under do not pay the nonresident fee.
Documents NPS accepts
Accepted proof of U.S. residency: a U.S. passport, a driver's license or ID issued by a U.S. state or territory, or a Permanent Resident card.
Fee-free days
From 2026, fee-free days apply to U.S. citizens and residents only. Nonresidents pay the regular entrance fee and any nonresident fee.