The United States of America has announced a steep increase in fees for various categories of non-immigrant visas, such as H-1B, L-1, and EB-5, the most popular types for Indians. The fee hike, which is the first since 2016, comes into force from April 1, 2024.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The EB-5 programme, launched by the US government in 1990, enables high-net-worth foreign investors to obtain a US visa for themselves and their families by investing a minimum of USD 500,000 in a US business that helps create 10 jobs for American workers.
To come into force from April 1, the new H-1B application visa fee, which is form I-129, has been increased from USD 460 to USD 780 — a hike of nearly 70 per cent. The H-1B registration will increase from USD 10 to USD 215, but from next year.
The fee for L-1 visas has been increased from USD 460 to USD 1,385 (a hike of 200 per cent) and that of EB-5 visas, popularly known as “investors visas”, has jumped from USD 3,675 to USD 11,160 (also a hike of just over 200 per cent), according to a federal notification issued yesterday.
The L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa category in the US that is designed for intra-company transferees. It allows multinational companies to transfer certain employees from their foreign offices to work in the US temporarily.
Costs and benefits for US government and visa applicants
The visa fee adjustments, as well as changes to the forms and fee structures used by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would result in net costs, benefits, and transfer payments, said the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its federal notification.
For the 10-year period of analysis of the rule (FY 2024 through FY 2033), the DHS estimates the annualised net costs to the public will be USD 157,005,952, discounted at 3 and 7 per cent.
Estimated total net costs over 10 years will be USD 1,339,292,617 discounted at 3 per cent and USD 1,102,744,106 discounted at 7 per cent.
The DHS argued that the changes in the final rule would also provide several benefits to it and applicants/petitioners seeking immigration benefits.
For the government, the primary benefits include reduced administrative burdens and fee processing errors; increased efficiency in the adjudicative process; and the ability to better assess the cost of providing services, which allows for better-aligned fees in future regulations.
The primary benefits to the applicants/petitioners include reduced fee processing errors; increased efficiency in the adjudicative process; the simplification of the fee payment process for some forms; elimination of the USD 30 returned cheque fee; and for many applicants, limited fee increases and additional fee exemptions to reduce fee burdens.
In many categories, the federal notification has made a minor reduction in visa application fees as well.