WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The Biden administration has proposed a massive hike in immigration fees, including the much sought-after H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers which is popular among Indian tech professionals.

Under the proposed rule, published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, January 4,  the application for the H-1B visa increases from USD 460 to USD 780, and L-1 from USD 460 to USD 1,385. The application fee for O-1 visas has been proposed to increase from USD 460 to USD 1,055. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty 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.

In its federal notification, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that USCIS is primarily funded by fees charged to applicants and petitioners for immigration and naturalization benefit requests. These fee collections fund the cost of fairly and efficiently adjudicating immigration benefit requests, including those provided without charge to refugees, asylum, and certain other applicants or petitioners, it argued.

The proposed rule went on a 60-day public opposition period, following which it is expected to be enforced. Under the proposed rule, the fee for the H-2B petitions (for seasonal, non-agricultural workers) is proposed to increase from USD 460 to USD 1,080.

“Economists would note that fee increase on these visa categories would work against the desire of US policymakers for more workers to enter the United States legally,” Forbes said in a news report.

While there is no increase in the premium processing, the number of days is now 15 business days from the existing 15 days. However, in this proposal, DHS would eliminate the additional biometric services fee in most cases by including the costs in the underlying immigration benefit request fee.

The USCIS said the new fees would allow the immigration agency to more fully recover its operating costs, re-establish and maintain timely case processing, and prevent the accumulation of future case backlogs. The agency receives approximately 96 per cent of its funding from filing fees, not from congressional appropriations, it said. The proposed fee rule is the result of a comprehensive fee review at the USCIS. That review determined that the agency’s current fees, which have remained unchanged since 2016, fall far short of recovering the full cost of agency operations. The USCIS generally publishes a fee rule biennially and proposes these changes to account for the expansion of humanitarian programs, federally mandated pay raises, additional staffing requirements, and other essential investments, a media statement said.

(Source: PTI)