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H1B Visa 2014 Filing fees – USCIS fee, Attorney fee, Premium Processing? Any Changes?

One of the things that everyone are curious about whenever we have a new H1B visa filing season is that regarding  fees involved with a H1B Visa petition.  Many questions like below are often hovering in your minds…

  • What is the actual H1B Visa filing fee for FY 2014 ?
  • Who pays for H1B filing ? Should I pay as employee ?
  • Did the fees increase for fiscal year 2014 ?
  • What is the USCIS fee? What is the attorney fee ?
  • What is premium processing fee for H1B Visa ?

Many of these will be addressed in this article.

Did the H1B Visa fee increase for Fiscal year 2014 filing ?

No, not really.  USCIS did not increase the H1B Visa petition filing fee for the fiscal year 2014.  In fact, the fee is already at a very high number, which was raised in Aug 2010, with H1B fee Public Law 111-230

What is actual H1B Visa 2014 filing fee  ?  USCIS Fee ?

There are various components that make up the overall H1B Visa Filing as described by USCIS. Below is the breakup.

 Base filing fee$325
AICWA Fee
(American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998)
$750  ( For employers with 1 to 25 full time employees )
$1,500 ( For employers with 26 or    more full time equivalent employee )
Fraud prevent & detection fee$500  ( only applies to New H1Bs and Change of employers petitions )
Fee based on Public Law 111 – 230$2000

( if more than 50 employees and more than 50% of employees are on H1B or L1 Visa status, required for new H1B filing and change of employers )
Read H1B fee $2000 rule to check if it applies to your case

Premium processing fee (Optional)$1,225 ( for faster adjudication within 15 calendar days)

 

Attorney Fee  for visa filing ?

Besides above mentioned USCIS fee, employers also incur attorney fee for filing the H1B visa petition.  There is nothing set from attorney fee perspective as it varies.  In general, it can be in the range of $500 to $2000, depending on the fee charged by attorney. Also, some of the firms have their dedicated in-house attorney to take care of these kind of cases.

 

Who Pays for H1B visa filing fee ?

Legally an employee should not pay for filing the H1B visa. It is a company’s expense and should be taken care by the H1B Sponsoring employer.

 

Who pays for What in filing H1B visa petition ?

Fee  TypeFeeWho Pays for it ? Why ?
Base filing fee$325Employer.
It is employer’s business expense
AICWA Fee$750 or $1,500Employer.
It is employer’s business expense. Law requires that this fee is never passed to you or third party
Fraud prevent & detection fee$500Employer.
It is employer’s business expense. Just like above, it is mandated by law.
Fee based on Public Law 111 – 230$2000Employer.
It is employer’s business expense.
Premium processing fee (Optional)$1,225Optional fee. Either employer or You.
If you bear it, the employer has to demonstrate to DOL that it was expedited due to your personal reasons.
Visa fee ( fee involved in getting H1B visa at US consualte )varies by countryYour expense. All the costs involved in obtaining visa, including cost involved in translation of your credentials, etc. It will NOT be an employer’s expense. The employer will only send you the documents required for visa stamping.

Department of labor(DOL) has a great tool to clarify some of your questions, check out the article H1B Online advisory tool by DOL

   

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26 Comments

  1. I am in the US on H4 visa. Got rejected twice for H1 visa in the lottery. This year I want to file it via a friend who owns his own firm in the US and will hire me and help me out (instead of going via a consultancy). But neither of us are aware of the filing process. My friend has his firm’s attorney but he has never handled such a case before. Can someone please tell me in detail how to file for H1 via this firm, the legal implications (if any) and details of the expenses?

    Reply
  2. I have valid H4 Visa(Dependent Visa) , want work permit and will apply for H1B, so let me know from where I can apply, from US or from India, as I will be in US for a month in Dec 15 and what will be fee structure.

    Reply
    • Shivanand,
      You need to find an employer who is willing to file H-1B for you. By law, the employer needs to pay for H-1 fees. At the time of filing, you can either be inside US or outside, doesn’t matter.

      Reply
  3. HI;
    I have an h1-b till 2018 and the college requested the expedited fee because they needed me to start teaching – thus they did the process and I got my h1-b within 2 weeks last year.
    They have requested me to pay the $1200 expedited fee but I just learned that they have to pay if they requested and needed me. It’s a community college and they needed me to teach as a Faculty.
    Or do I still pay it even though they required for it?
    please advise

    Reply
    • Sharon, It is an agreement between the employer and employee. Premium fee is optional and can be paid by either you or your employer. I guess, when you negotiated for the offer, you should have asked for it, if they were desperate to have you and start early and let them pay for it…

      Reply
    • Hi Sharon,

      Can you please tell me how you got the teaching job with h1b… i am trying for it from long time.. can you please provide some directions to it….

      please reply here or email me on garry dot new dot start at gmail dot com

      Reply
  4. Hi,
    Iam looking for a H1B Sponsor,i have 6 year’s of experience in the field of Clinical Data Management.. wanna search for job in US can anyone help me out selecting a good H1B sponsor 2015

    Reply
  5. Could you please let me know if H1b extension is considred as new H1B (Same employer). If yes should i pay “fee based on pubic law 111-230” which is additonal 2000$

    Reply
  6. Hi admin –
    the AICWA fee – 750 or 1500. is it mentioned in the h1b receipt. I am having to deal with one of the partners who is claiming he paid 2325 but the receipt said 1575 and he said 750 is extra fees that was given separetly. It’s kinda suspicious – so just wanted to know if that is the case;

    My logic is if 2325 is paid as the total fees, it should be reflected that in the h1b receipt. Please help clear this confusion.

    AICWA Fee
    (American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998) $750 ( For employers with 1 to 25 full time employees )
    $1,500 ( For employers with 26 or more full time equivalent employee )

    Reply
  7. Hi Admin,

    Nice article. Great write-up. Could you also include the timeline when the fee will be paid. Would be great if you could include the timeline for each fee components.

    Thanks
    Kate

    Reply
  8. Hi,
    Iam looking for a H1B Sponsor,i had an IT experience of 2.6 yrs…wanna search for job in US can anyone help me out selecting a good H1B sponsor 2014

    Reply
  9. Hi,
    I had filed for H1B visa petition in April 2007 and got stamped for in Dec 2007, they gave visa for 3 years ie till sep 2010.
    But i came back in 2009 itself, now can i opt for Visa extension for another 3 years which i have not used without going through the normal process ie lottery picking process for this year 2014?

    Reply

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