In a move that is expected to hit Indian IT companies, the US government has decided to hike H-1B visa fee from next fiscal.
In a statement, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) listed out the details of the fees to be filed by the applicants for H-1B visas. It starts from a base fee of $325 to $2,000 by the petitioner who employs 50 or more employees in the US — where more than 50% of its workers in the US are in H-1B or L-1 non- immigrant status.
This year, USCIS is charging $750 for employers with 1 to 25 full-time equivalent employees, and $1,500 for employers with 26 or more full-time equivalent employees.
There is another $500 listed as fraud prevention and detection fee.
And employers seeking premium processing service, in which application is processed within 15 days, need to submit an additional $1,225, it said.
India's software and services companies earn around 60% of their revenues from the US and employ a large number of professionals here.
USCIS also said that applications for the most sought after H-1B work visa — used extensively by Indian IT professionals — for the fiscal beginning October 1, would be accepted beginning April 2.
The congressionally mandated numerical limitation on H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2013 is 65,000, as has been in the previous years.
Additionally, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals who have earned a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the fiscal year cap.
