US visa fee hike comes into effect

Washington: The US has increased its visa fee for H1B, L1, and EB5 categories, which are among the most common visa types applied by Indians, and the hiked fee came into effect from April 1.

The first major hike since 2016, the new visa fees will help the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to recover a share of its operating costs and increase processing of applications. According to USCIS, employers sponsoring H1B visa petitions will face a 70% fee hike, while those filing for L1 and O1 visas will see their costs go up by 201% and 129%, respectively.

Additionally, a new Asylum Programme fee of $600 will be charged for specific worker and immigrant petitions. Notably, the H-1B electronic registration fee will rise from $10 to $215.

The I-130 form used for family reunification, including a marriage to enable a spouse to migrate has been increased by 26% to $675. When a US citizen or a green card-holder files this form to establish a relationship with an eligible relative who wants to come to the US permanently and seek a green card, the fee stands at $1,440 from $1,225. In order to bring your fiancé to the US, the fee for Form I-129F has been hiked from $535 to $675, an increase of 26%. According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses USCIS, “DHS does not believe that the I-129 F fee increase will encourage out-of-country marriages, since, if the couple marries abroad, instead of paying $675 for the fiancé to immigrate, the petitioner would need to file Form I-130 for their spouse to immigrate.

The final rule increases the fee for online I-130 filings to $625 and paper filings to $675; therefore, out-of-country marriage would not result in significant cost savings”.

Applying for American citizenship will also become costlier, however, online application for naturalisation with biometric services has seen a decline from $725 to $710.

For EB5 – the investment-linked green card visa programme — the fee has escalated from $3,675 (over Rs 300,000) to $11,160 (over Rs 900,000) for their initial I-829 application. This significant increase could influence the decisions of wealthy Indians looking to invest in the US for residency purposes.

For the EB5 programme, the applicant will have to go through the consulate interview or adjustment of status with a conditional green card valid for two years. Later, an application has to be filed to remove the conditions and get a permanent green card.

Immigration experts say prospective investors should not wait to file the initial application before the hike kicks in.

The EB5 programme was launched by the US government in 1990 to enable high-net-worth foreign investors to obtain a US visa for themselves and their families by investing a minimum of $5,00,000 in a US business.

The application fee for the H1B visa has been raised from $460 (over Rs 38,000) to $780 (over Rs 64,000), with the registration fee also jumping from $10 (Rs 829) to $215 (over Rs 17,000) – an increase of 2,000%. The higher rate, however, will not be in effect for this year’s registration period, which runs from March 6-22. The fee for L1 application (intra company transfer) will increase from $460 to $1,385.

A $600 Asylum Program Fee will be charged for each Form I-129 (initial visa application for sponsored employer) and Form I-140 (application for employment based green card).

Non-profit employers will be exempt from the new fee structure, while small employers will be subjected to a reduced fee of $300.