A Look At The High Fees Making Hiring H-1B Visa Holders Challenging

Hiring and retaining foreign-born scientists and engineers is expensive for employers in the United States. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee rule represents the latest federal action making it more costly to employ H-1B visa holders. Analysts say assertions about “cheap labor” ignore the significant fees employers pay and the law requiring employers to pay H-1B professionals as much as comparable U.S. workers. The registration process for the FY 2025 H-1B cap starts on March 6, 2024.

Higher Fees
On January 31, 2024, USCIS published a final rule that would raise many government fees. Employers will pay 70% more for beneficiaries on H-1B petitions, 201% more for employees on L-1 petitions and 129% more for individuals on O-1 petitions. USCIS will also enact a new $600 Asylum Program Fee when filing a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, and increase the H-1B Electronic Registration Fee for each beneficiary by 2,050%.

“We project our larger clients could see an increase of anywhere from 115% to 175% in filing fee costs in the first year of the new fee schedule,” according to Lynden Melmed of BAL. (The USCIS website contains a complete list of the new fees.)