USCIS said the new fees will help the immigration agency fully recover its operating costs, re-establish and maintain timely case processing, and prevent the accumulation of future case backlogs. , Photo Credit: AP
The Biden administration has proposed a steep hike in immigration fees for high-skilled foreign workers, including the much-anticipated H-1B visa, which is very popular among Indian tech professionals.
The proposed rule, published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, has raised the cost of an H-1B visa application from $460 to $780, and an L-1 application from $460 to $1,385. The application fee for the O-1 visa has been proposed to be increased from $460 to $1,055.
The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
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Technology companies depend on it to hire thousands of employees every year from countries like India and China.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its federal notification states that USCIS is primarily funded by fees charged to applicants and petitioners for immigration and naturalization benefit requests. This fee collection funds the cost of fairly and efficiently adjudicating immigration benefit requests, including those granted without fee to refugees, asylum, and certain other applicants or petitioners, it argued.
The proposed rule underwent a period of 60 days of public protest, after which it is expected to be implemented. Under the proposed rule, the fee for H-2B petitions (for seasonal, non-agricultural workers) is proposed to increase from $460 to $1,080.
“Economists will note that fee increases on these visa categories will work against US policy makers’ desire for more workers to enter the United States legally,” forbes said in a news report.
While there is no increase in premium processing, the number of days is now 15 working days from the existing 15 days.
However, in this proposal, DHS would in most cases eliminate the additional biometric service fee by including the cost in the underlying Immigration Benefit Request Fee.
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USCIS said the new fees will help the immigration agency fully recover its operating costs, re-establish and maintain timely case processing, and prevent the accumulation of future case backlogs.
The agency gets about 96% of its funding from filing fees, not congressional appropriations, it said.
The proposed fee rule is the result of a comprehensive fee review at USCIS. That review determined that the current agency fees, which have remained unchanged since 2016, are too low to recover the full cost of agency operations.
USCIS typically publishes a fee rule biennially, and proposes these changes to account for the expansion of humanitarian programs, federally mandated wage increases, additional staffing requirements and other necessary investments, said a media statement.
In 2020, the beginning of covid-19 pandemic There was a dramatic reduction in new applications received, resulting in a temporary 40% drop in revenue. It stated that a combination of low cash reserves, a temporary hiring freeze, and workforce shortages have reduced the agency’s ability to make timely decisions, especially as incoming cases rebound to pre-pandemic levels. In form, it said.
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According to USCIS, the proposed rule would increase certain fees, including a modest increase in fees for certain naturalization applications, while preserving existing fee waiver eligibility for low-income and vulnerable populations and adding new fee waivers for certain humanitarian programs. is included. If finalized, the proposed rule would reduce or minimally increase fees for one million low-income filers each year.
USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddu said, “In addition to improving customer service operations and managing the incoming workload, USCIS must continue to fulfill its increasingly humanitarian mission of fairness, integrity and respect for all of us.” must be maintained.”
“This proposed rule allows USCIS to fully recover operating costs for the first time in six years and will support the Administration’s effort to rebuild the legal immigration system,” he said.