Back in 2010, there was a rule passed that increased H1B and L1 Fees by $2000, however that rule ended several months ago on Sep 30th, 2015. Now, on the similar lines to fund the border protection and modernization of entry exit system by Bio-metrics tracking system, Congress has passed a massive new bill that will increase the H1B and L1 Visa fees. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114-113), was signed into law by President Obama on December 18th, 2015. The Law will increase fees for certain H-1B and L-1 petitioners by a substantial amount. For petitioners submitting on or after December 18th, 2015, the additional fees will be $4,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $4,500 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions.
The fees apply to employers and companies that have 50 or more employees in the USA and 50 percent of their employees are non-immigrants. The proposed fee increase will be valid for the next 10 years, until September 30th, 2025. Many analysts expect the change to bring in about more than One billion USD per year. Many of the Indian outsourcing companies and the Indian government are not very happy about the proposed changes as it takes a huge hit for all the outsourcing companies from the their cost perspective.
For more details on the new law visit USCIS site here.
