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US immigration has scrapped the additional fee of $2,250 for an L-1 visa and the $2,000 fee for an H-1B visa paid by larger employers with a high percentage of overseas workers; this fee was considered discriminatory as it mainly affected Indian IT companies. Commonly referred to as an 'outsourcing fee', Indian businesses were particularly vocal in their opposition about the charges saying it had a major impact on their ability to do business in the US.
In recent years, the additional fees for an L-1A or L-1B intracompany transfer visa or an H-1B visa petition had meant that Indian IT companies ended up contributing millions of dollars towards the costs of policing the US-Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration. Companies employing 50 or more employees in the United States, with 50 per cent of their workforce in the country on an H-1B or L1 visa, were subjected to the additional fees.
Additional fees for L-1 visa and H-1B visa introduced in 2010
The fees were introduced in August 2010, after being passed by US Congress; the new laws containing provisions to charge additional H-1B and L1 visa fees for each application. As already mentioned the $2,000 additional charge for H-1B visas and the $2,250 additional fee for an L1 visa mainly had an impact on Indian IT firms.
In a recently published report, Nasscom – a trade association of Indian IT companies – said: "The Indian IT industry has paid an estimated $375 million into the US treasury as a result of additional fees for H-1B and L1 visas, but no longer."
In a recent interview, R Chandrashekhar – the president of Nasscom – said that the fees were 'completely unjustified'. "The fees had nothing to do with the IT industry. It was brought in specifically to target Indian firms."
L-1 or H-1B petitions filed on or after October 1, 2015
In a statement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), they said: "Petitions filed for an L1 visa or H-1B visa on or after October 1, 2015, should not include any additional fees as previously required by Public Law. The requirement for additional fees expired on September 30, 2015."
The USCIS statement went on to say that all other H-1B and L-1 fees, such as the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA) Fee [where applicable], Base Fee and Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee are still required. Any petitions submitted with incorrect fees could be rejected. The USCIS added that for each filing fee a separate check is preferred.
Congressional sources said that Congress could, at any point, come up with new legislation to reinstate the discriminatory H-1B and L1 visa fees. While Indian firms welcomed the decision to scrap the fees, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA) released a statement criticizing the US Congress for allowing the fees to expire.
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