Rule would be in effect till Sep’ 30, 2025.
AB Wire
The new rule by United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding hike in visa fees for H-1B visa and L-1 visa is now in place.
Companies would have to pay at least an additional $4,000 for every H-1B visa application under the new regulations that came into effect last December.
Applying for L-1 visa petitions is now $4,500 more. The rule for both category of visas would be in effect till September 30, 2025.
USCIS posted the details of the increased fee on its website on Friday.
For H-1B petitioners, one “must pay the additional $4,000 fee” if the company employs 50 or more employees in the US and more than half of those are in H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B non-immigrant status. The figure increases to $4,500 for those applying for L-1 visas.
The USCIS said the additional fees needs to be a paid in a separate check payable to the Department of Homeland Security. The federal agency also laid the parameters for counting the number of employees of the company.
“We will count all of your full-time and part-time employees when determining whether you must pay this fee. Employees of related entities will not count,” USCIS said.
“When calculating the percentage of your employees in H-1B or L-1 status, we will calculate based on the number of employees you have in the United States, regardless of whether they are paid through a US or foreign payroll,” USCIS said.