H-1B Visa Filing Fees Could Be More Than Double If US Approves New Bill

H-1B visas could become more expensive if the United States approves the proposed Budget reconciliation Bill in its current form. The Bill has proposed to include a supplementary $500 charge for each H-1B visa petition.

Companies ¨C mostly tech and IT services providers - use H1-B visas to get highly skilled workers into the United States. At present companies pay $460 for a basic H-1B application, with additional lawyer, anti-fraud, and scholarship fees.

Reuters

Breakup of visa fee

The Bill also proposes additional fees for several immigration-related petitions. These include $800 for employer sponsored permanent residency and $250 for an F-1, or student visa, to be paid by the educational institute, the Economic Times mentioned in a report.

It also proposes another supplementary $500 charge for employment authorisation forms for spouses of certain non-immigrants, students seeking optional practical training and applicants for adjustment of status.

AFP

With the fee increase, a company may spend as much as $31,800 for the cost of filing an initial H-1B petition (for three years) and an extension for an additional three years, based on a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of government fees and attorney.

Smaller IT firms hit

The proposed increase in H-1B filing fees reflect another stab at the already injured H-1B process, Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at immigration.com told the publication.

¡°It can cost as much as $30,000 in attorney fees, filing fees and responding to requests for evidence each time you file an H-1B or an extension. With over a million jobs vacant in the computer technology industry alone, it is unconscionable that instead of making it easier, Congress is making it more difficult,¡± he said.

Small businesses would be impacted more by this change, he added.

Freepik

Shatters 'cheap labour' myth

For employers that have a large proportion of H-1B and L-1 visa holders, there is an additional $4,000 fee, as well as $2,500 for premium processing of the petition, which most companies opt for.

¡°Employers are willing to pay these high fees for a skilled foreign worker, and this belies the myth that employers want H-1B workers because they are cheap labour,¡± said Cyrus D Mehta, managing partner, Cyrus D Mehta & Partners.