With so much uncertainty surrounding immigration and visa approval in the United States amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the White House has reported further updates on the same. The final proposal on the visa fee increase has been submitted by the US immigration agency last week with the stamp from the US President’s Office.
The same reports hike of the H-1B visa fees by 22% and the L-1 visa fees by 77%. The L-1 visa is the one that is used by majority of the technology companies to transfer their employees between offices,
The US Citizenship and Immigration Office (USCIS) submitted the revised fees to the White House Office of Immigration and Regulatory Affairs.
The timelines for the fee hikes have not been clarified yet but the USCIS has reported that the sudden change in the fee chart and the fairs is because of the funding crisis that they have been experiencing lately because of the sharp drop in the visa fee income.
It was also reported just last week that owing to the crisis, it is possible that USCIS might have to forlough over 18,000 employees working under them if the $1.2 billion government funding is not received by them until July.
Some of the immigration attorneys reported that the attempt would be made to further make the ruling possible soon enough.
The proposal to hike the visa fees was first put forth in November 2019 as the recommendation for the fees are a lot different than that of the Form I-129.
The sudden changes will then result in the hike of the visa fees of the H-1B visa by 22% to $560 and the L-1 visa fees by 77% amounting to $815.
