A significant increase in immigration costs has been suggested by the Biden administration, particularly for the highly desired H-1B visas for highly educated foreign workers, which are very well-liked among Indian software experts.
The H-1B visa application fee rises from USD 460 to USD 780 under the proposed regulation, which US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released on Wednesday, and the L-1 visa application fee rises from USD 460 to USD 1,385. It has been suggested that the O-1 visa application price rise from USD 460 to USD 1,055.
A non-immigrant visa called the H-1B allows US businesses to hire foreign nationals for specialized jobs that need for theoretical or technical competence.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its federal notification that USCIS is primarily supported by fees collected from petitioners and applicants for immigration and naturalisation benefit petitions. It claimed that these fee collections cover the expense of effectively and fairly processing immigration benefit requests, such as those granted without charge to refugees, asylum seekers, and specific other applicants or petitioners.
Following a 60-day public comment period, the proposed rule is anticipated to be implemented. The H-2B petition fee (for seasonal, nonagricultural workers) is proposed to increase from USD 460 to USD 1,080 under the proposed rule.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its federal notification that USCIS is primarily supported by fees collected from petitioners and applicants for immigration and naturalisation benefit petitions. It claimed that these fee collections cover the expense of effectively and fairly processing immigration benefit requests, such as those granted without charge to refugees, asylum seekers, and specific other applicants or petitioners.
Following a 60-day public comment period, the proposed rule is anticipated to be implemented. The H-2B petition fee (for seasonal, nonagricultural workers) is proposed to increase from USD 460 to USD 1,080 under the proposed rule.
According to a news story from Forbes, "Economists would observe that fee increases on these visa categories would work against the objective of US politicians for more employees to enter the US lawfully."
Although the premium processing time is unchanged, it has been increased from 15 days to 15 business days.
However, under this proposal, DHS would generally do away with the extra biometric services price by including the costs into the base immigration benefit request fee.
According to the USCIS, the additional fees will enable the immigration service to more fully recoup its operational expenses, restore and sustain prompt case processing, and stop the development of further case backlogs.
According to the organisation, filing fees make up around 96% of its budget, not congressional appropriations.
The USCIS conducted a thorough fee review, which led to the creation of the proposed charge rule. According to that analysis, the agency's current fees—which have not changed since 2016—far fall short of covering the entire cost of running the agency.
According to a media statement, the USCIS typically issues a fee regulation every two years and is proposing these changes to reflect the growth of humanitarian programmes, legally mandated pay increases, increased staffing needs, and other critical investments.
The Covid-19 pandemic's arrival in 2020 caused a sharp decline in the number of new applications received, which temporarily reduced revenue by 40%. In particular, as incoming caseloads return to pre-pandemic levels, the agency's ability to timely decide cases has been hampered by depleted cash reserves, a temporary recruiting freeze, and personnel attrition, it claimed.
According to the USCIS, the proposed rule would add some new fees while maintaining existing fee waiver eligibility for low-income and vulnerable populations and adding new fee exemptions for specific humanitarian programmes. This includes a slight increase in the fee for some naturalisation applications. If adopted, the proposed rule would reduce or barely raise annual filing fees for more than a million low-income individuals.
"The USCIS must continue to fulfil our growing humanitarian mission, upholding fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve," said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. "This goes beyond strengthening customer service operations and handling the incoming workload.
For the first time in six years, he added, the proposed regulation "allows the USCIS to more fully recoup operational costs and would support the administration's effort to rebuild the legal immigration system."
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