If accepted, the transfer will possible lead to a considerable rise in submitting charges for H-1B visas, impacting each American and Indian expertise corporations.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revealed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Tuesday, which seeks to hike the pre-registration charges for H-1B visas from $10 to $215.
The precise petition charges would additionally improve by 70%, whereas charges for an L1 visa, for intra-company switch, would improve by 201%.
There can be a proposed $600 ‘Asylum Program Fee’ to be paid by employers submitting a Form I-129 and I-140 petition, which might add considerably to their visa prices.
Form I-129 is for non-immigrant employment petitions just like the H-1B and the I-140 is for an employer-sponsored inexperienced card.
Discover the tales of your curiosity
Technology corporations usually sponsor the residency permits of these staff who’ve been within the nation on an H-1B visa as soon as its six-year validity expires.
Indian nationals are the most important beneficiaries of each these classes, accounting for about 70% of H-1B visas and half of the everlasting residence permits issued every year.
“This new fee rule will no doubt create an additional financial burden for employers. Especially, because according to many in the legal profession, the fees are likely to increase sharply. If the increase is implemented before the H-1B CAP filing season for FY 2024, it will have an impact on the upcoming CAP filings too,” mentioned Poorvi Chothani, managing companion at LawQuest, an immigration legislation agency. However, this appears unlikely given the time taken for the federal evaluate course of.
USCIS mentioned in a press release that the brand new charges would enable it to get better its working prices extra absolutely, re-establish and keep well timed case processing, and forestall the buildup of future case backlogs.
USCIS receives about 96% of its funding from submitting charges, which dropped by about 40% through the Covid-19 pandemic on account of a discount in visa filings.
If accepted, this might be helpful for Indian candidates who at the moment face wait instances of about 1,000 days for a B1/B2 vacationer visa appointment.
“In addition to improving customer service operations and managing the incoming workload, USCIS must continue to fulfil our growing humanitarian mission, upholding fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve,” USCIS director Ur Jaddou mentioned.
“This proposed rule allows USCIS to more fully recover operating costs for the first time in six years and will support the (Joe Biden) Administration’s effort to rebuild the legal immigration system.”
The proposal shall be open for public session for 60 days, following which a ultimate rule could also be revealed.