Washington DC:

Amid the ongoing debate over H-1B visas in the United States, the prospective applicants and their employers are bracing for the intricate costs tied to the coveted work permit, starting from fiscal year 2025. The H-1B program allows US-based companies to bring in skilled workers from abroad into certain industries, but it comes with hefty fees that vary depending on the type of petition being filed and the status of the employer.

Moreover, a new rule also came into effect in 2025 which will allow entrepreneurs to sponsor themselves for the H1B visa. This means that entrepreneurs establishing a tech company in the US can self-sponsor, provided they meet the eligibility criteria for the visa, such as having specialised knowledge.

Till now, individuals were not considered eligible for H-1B visas unless they could demonstrate employment with a sponsoring organisation. It made getting an employment permit difficult for entrepreneurs who wanted to launch their ventures independently. 

H-1B Visa Application Fee

Registration Fee: To be part of the H-1B lottery, applicants are required to pay a registration fee of $10, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2024. This marks the first step for prospective applicants during the initial registration period, which typically occurs in March each year.

Filing Fees: Further, the employers have to pay $460 as a base filing fee for all H-1B petitions. To top it, an anti-fraud fee of $500 is mandatory for all initial and change of employer petitions, to prevent fraud and misuse of the H-1B program.

Employer Surcharge: Companies with more than 50 employees, half of whom hold H-1B or L-1 visas, are required to pay a $4,000 fee under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. This surcharge remains in effect until September 30 2025.

Premium Processing (Optional): Employers who are in a rush to hire an overseas employee can opt to expedite the processing of their H-1B petitions to just 15 calendar days by paying a premium processing fee of $2,805. This service is a necessity for critical hires in time-sensitive industries.

Who Pays What?

In the H-1B visa application process, the majority of the financial burden typically falls on the shoulders of the employer. An additional $4,000 employer fee also lies squarely with them. However, there are specific rules through which visa stamping and interview-related fees may be passed on to the employees.

Total Estimated Costs

Here’s an estimated cost breakdown of the total cost of applying for an H-1B visa:

For companies not subjected to the additional $4,000 fee — $10 (Registration Fee) + $460 (Base Filing Fee) + $500 (Anti-Fraud Fee) = $970

For companies subjected to the additional $4,000 fee– $10 (Registration Fee) + $460 (Base Filing Fee) + $500 (Anti-Fraud Fee) + $4,000 (Additional Employer Fee) = $4,970

For Premium Processing– A $2,805 is added for expedited processing, bringing the total for employers opting for premium processing to $3,775 or $7,775, depending on employer status.

Debate Over H-1b Visa In US

Three weeks ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the debate on the H-1B visa program has intensified, literally creating divisions in both the Democratic and the Republican parties.

Indians are the main beneficiaries of the H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Highly skilled professionals from India walk away with the overwhelming number of H-1B visas – which is Congressional mandated 65,0000 every year and another 20,000 for those who received higher education from the US.

President-elect Donald Trump has come out in support of the H-1B, and so have two of his close confidants, Tesla owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom have been tasked to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

However, they are facing a backlash from the supporters of Mr Trump who argued that this is eating away at the jobs of Americans. Moreover, on Thursday, influential Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders also asserted that the two close confidants of Trump are wrong.

“Elon Musk and a number of other billionaire tech company owners have argued that this federal programme is vital to our economy because of the scarcity of highly skilled American engineers and other tech workers. I disagree.

“The main function of the H-1B visa programme and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest’, but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labour they hire, the more money the billionaires make,” Sanders said on Thursday.

Elon Musk has received support from President-elect Donald Trump on his stance on H-1B visas, a day after the tech billionaire vowed to “go to war” to defend the programme used to bring skilled foreign workers to the US.

Mr. Musk, who along with Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has been tapped by Mr. Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued last week that foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Mr. Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla. 

Mr. Musk on Friday (December 27, 2024) blasted a user on X who used a video of Mr. Musk discussing SpaceX processes to go after the billionaire’s stance on the visa programme. 

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Mr. Musk wrote on X.

He also used a profane quote from Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Tropic Thunder” to attack his critics.

“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” Mr. Musk said.

Trump on Saturday ( December28, 2024) sided with Musk, saying he fully backs the programme opposed by some of his supporters.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Mr. Trump told the New York Post newspaper.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great programme,” Mr. Trump said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The tech industry has long called for more H-1B visas to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S.. Mr. Trump’s first administration restricted the programme in 2020, arguing that it allows businesses to replace Americans with lower-paid foreign workers. 

Mr. Musk, himself once on an H-1B visa and whose electric vehicle company Tesla has hired workers using the programme, defended the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers.

“Anyone – of any race, creed or nationality – who came to America and worked like hell to contribute to this country will forever have my respect. America is the land of freedom and opportunity. Fight with every fiber of your being to keep it that way!” he wrote on X on Friday (December 27, 2024).

Mr. Musk also lashed out at those who prioritise personal gain over the well-being of the country.

“This is the right position for those who want America to win. For those who want America to lose for their own personal gain, I have no respect. Zero,” he said in a separate post.

Mr. Musk has been consistently posting on X in favour of the programme.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” Musk wrote on December 25 on X.

Several of Mr. Trump’s supporters and immigration hardliners have been increasingly pushing for scrapping the H-1B visa programme amid debate over immigration.

The debate sparked when Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer, criticised Trump’s selection of Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Mr. Krishnan favours the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S..

Mr. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Mr. Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. The debate intensified when Mr. Ramaswamy criticised American culture for promoting mediocrity instead of focusing on academic excellence and success on the basis of merit.

“Trump’s election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritises achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness,” Mr. Ramaswamy said on Thursday (December 26, 2024).

He faced backlash for the comment.

In response, Mr. Musk called for removing “contemptible fools” from the Republican Party who oppose his immigration agenda.

Mr. Musk later clarified that his statement was addressing the “hateful, unrepentant racists” he considers a threat to the Republican Party’s future.

The US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs recently released its Visa Bulletin for January 2025, giving updates to the green card applicants. The bulletin shows significant progress for family-sponsored and employment-based (EB) visa categories, benefitting Indian applicants, in particular.

The Department of State releases a Visa Bulletin every month providing updates on the availability of immigrant visa numbers for applicants waiting in queues to apply for green cards in the US.

As per data, the limit for employment-based preference immigrants has been kept at 1.4 lakh, while the cap for family-sponsored category immigrants is 2.26 lakh.

More than a million Indians are waiting for green cards in the US, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

In the employment-based categories, the backlog for Indians is expected to reach 21.9 lakh by the financial year 2030, which will take 195 years to get cleared, according to the estimates by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Family-sponsored visa

With a community of roughly five million, Indians in the US are considered among the most influential immigrant groups.

For family-sponsored preference immigrants, the limit for FY 2025 has been set at 2,26,000, while the per-country limit for preference immigrants is fixed at 7% of the total number of annual family-sponsored visas.

Among the major changes in the US Visa Bulletin for 2025 are: 

1. First Preference (F1): In this category, the final action date for Indians has advanced from October 22, 2015, to November 22, 2015. This is a reserved category for unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens. Meanwhile, the date for filing family-sponsored visa applications remains September 1, 2017.

2. Second Preference (F2A and F2B): Final action date for F2A category for children and spouses of permanent residents is unchanged at January 1, 2022, while the same for F2B category (unmarried sons and daughters of the permanent residents), it is improved from May 1, 2016, to May 22, 2016.

3. Third Preference (F3): Final action date shifts from April 15, 2010, to July 1, 2010. The date for filing applications here has also come down to July 22, 2012, from April 22, 2012.

4. Fourth Preference (F4): In this category, the final action date has advanced from March 8, 2006, to April 8, 2006, while the date of filing has moved from August 1, 2006, to August 15, 2006.

Employment-based visa

First Preference (EB-1): In this category for priority workers, the final action date remains February 1, 2022. 

Second Preference (EB-2): Final action date advances from August 1, 2012, to October 1, 2012. This is for members of professionals holding advanced degrees as well as persons of exceptional ability.

Third Preference (EB-3): The final action date is December 1, 2012. It was November 8, 2012.

Fourth Preference (EB-4): In this category for the specific category of immigrants, the final action date is unchanged (January 1, 2021).

Fifth Preference (EB-5): Here, the final action date remains January 1, 2022. 

Washington:

There does not seem to any light at the end of the tunnel for children of legal immigrants, a significantly large number of whom are Indian-Americans who came to the US as a young kid with their parents and now risk being deported back to the country where they don’t know anyone because of them being aging out when they turn 21.

There are around 250,000 of such children of legal immigrants, a significantly large number of whom are Indians. The White House on Thursday blamed the Republicans for this legislative impasse.

“I talked about the bipartisan agreement that came together from the Senate where we negotiated a process to help the so-called documented Dreamers. And sadly, Republicans, and I’ve said this many times already at this podium today, which is that they voted it down twice. They voted it down twice,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

Last month led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representative Deborah Ross, a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers called on Biden Administration to take urgent action to protect the more than 250,000 Documented Dreamers – children of long-term visa holders – who are at risk of aging out of their dependent status and are forced to self-deport if they are ineligible for another status.

“These young people grow up in the United States, complete their education in the American school system, and graduate with degrees from American institutions,” wrote the lawmakers. “However, due to the long green-card backlog, families with approved immigrant petitions are often stuck waiting decades for permanent resident status,” they said in a letter to the Biden Administration on June 13.

Last month, Improve The Dream, an organization representing these children of legal immigrants, met with over 100 congressional offices and senior administration officials.

“It is disappointing to see the lack of action and associated proposed regulations deprioritized and delayed. It is time for action and I hope President Biden and the administration see the support from this bipartisan letter and show they care about one of the most bipartisan issues in Congress and rectify the mistakes of the past,’ said Dip Patel, founder of Improve The Dream comments.

At the same time, he expressed gratitude for the bipartisan members of Congress leading in a letter asking for urgent administrative policy improvements and who continue to champion a permanent solution through Congress.

“I was forced to start visa-hopping to be able to stay in this country when I was 20 years old, right before I aged out, as a junior at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. I am about to turn 27 this August. Soon, if my time visa-hopping was personified, they would be older than I was when I first came to the United States,” Jefrina, currently a graduate student pursuing my MBA at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota told PTI.

She came to the US from India in 2005 at the age of 7. “I arrived under a dependent H-4 visa. My family applied for permanent residency in 2010 when I was 12 years old, and I unwittingly fell in love with this country. In the last 19 years, Minnesota has undoubtedly become my home,” she said.

“My young adult life has been a series of temporary fixes to avoid self-deportation. I graduate from my Masters program in December, and I’m yet again at the crossroads of leaving my family, pets, friends, and a myriad of unquantifiable reasons I call Minnesota my home,” Jefrina said.

Praneetha, a Cloud Engineer based in Texas, who came to the US with her family when she was 8 years old as a dependent on her parents’ work visa, and after living in the US for more than 15 years, is left with no clear path toward permanent residency and has to hop from visa to visa in order to continue living and working in the country.

Roshan was forced to leave the US last month. He was working with- an American semiconductor manufacturing company. He came to the US with his Mom and brother at the age of 10 on an H4 visa- he grew up in Boston and graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a degree in Economics.

Roshan grew up in the US for almost 16 years but aged out in 2019. He had to leave the US in June without a clear path for returning, living, and working in the only country that he has truly called home.

Patel said every day without action results in young adults, who have been lawfully raised in the United States by skilled workers and small business owners, to be forced to leave the country, separating them from their families and stopping their ability to contribute to the country.

The administration has heard countless stories and examples of American-raised and educated STEM and health care talent (which comprises 87% of all impacted by aging-out, according to Improve The Dream’s survey) contributing in other countries now due to barriers in our legal immigration system.

“Our country is not only losing young talent who were raised and educated here, but we’re also losing many of their parents, who have years of practical experience as small business owners or in fields like medicine, engineering, and artificial intelligence. The economic case is clear and the moral case is clear. It is common sense,” he said in response to a question.

“All major administrative actions have excluded this population from receiving benefit, despite the tools for such relief being available and being used for others. Until Congress can pass the bipartisan America’s Children Act, we need urgent action by the administration to prioritize this issue, which has bipartisan support from Congress and the general public, and clear economic benefit,” Patel told Press Trust of India.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Joe Biden is doing everything he can to improve the H1B visa process, ‘green card’ backlog and other issues related to the country’s legal immigration system, the White House has said.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

“One of the steps, if we look at the H1B visa process, we have taken action to improve that and the process and backlog for lawful permanent residents (green card) who are eligible to become U.S. citizens,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Wednesday.

She was responding to questions about the feeling among a section of Indian Americans that the President is not putting as much effort on addressing the woes of legal immigrants as he is doing for illegal immigrants.

Mr. Biden heads to the southern border with Mexico in Texas on Thursday.

“Just last month, for example, as a part of our efforts to strengthen the integrity of our immigration system and reduce potential for fraud, the DHS published a final rule relating to H1B visa,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“So, the changes promote fairer and more equitable outcomes and, so, we will continue our work to improve the system within our authorities and that has certainly been a priority,” she said and added that the administration takes that “very seriously” and is continuing to do everything that it can to improve the visa process.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the launch of myUSCIS organisational accounts that will allow multiple people within an organisation, as well as their legal representatives, to collaborate on and prepare H1B registrations, H-1B petitions and any associated Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service.

A new organisational account is required to participate in the H1B Electronic Registration Process starting in March 2024, the USCIS said. 

“We are working expeditiously to address any technical issues that may arise for legal representatives whose accounts migrated when they logged into their online account on or after February 14, 2024, including impacts on cases other than H1B filings,” it said.

The initial registration period for FY 2025 H1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 6, and run through noon Eastern on March 22.

During this period, prospective petitioners and their representatives, if applicable, must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary, its media alert said.   

Starting with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS will require registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary.

The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the US if issued an H1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document.

“In March, we will launch online filing of Form I-129 and associated Form I-907 for non-cap H1B petitions. On April 1, USCIS will begin accepting online filing for H1B cap petitions and associated Forms I-907 for petitioners whose registrations have been selected,” the federal agency said.

To help guide organisations and legal representatives through the new process, the USCIS had launched the Tech Talks sessions in February 2024. During these sessions, individuals can ask questions about the organisational accounts and online filing of Form I-129 for H1B petitions.

The USCIS encourages all individuals involved in the H1B registration and petition filing process to attend these sessions. Additional information and dates are available on the Upcoming National Engagements page, it said.

The Biden administration is proposing changes in the H-1B foreign workers programme to improve efficiency by streamlining eligibility, providing more flexibility to F-1 students, entrepreneurs and those working for non-profit bodies and ensuring better condition for other non-immigrant workers.

The rules, which are scheduled to be published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on October 23 in the Federal Register have been proposed without changing the Congress-mandated 60,000 limit on the number of such visas the U.S. issues every year.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

It is typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker. But H-1B holders who have begun the Green Card process can often renew their work visas indefinitely.

The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Making the proposed rules public for stakeholders to give their comments and feedback, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the proposed changes in the rules are aimed at streamlining eligibility requirements, improving programme efficiency, providing greater benefits and flexibilities to employers and workers, and strengthening integrity measures.

The H-1B programme helps U.S. employers hire the employees they need to meet their business needs and remain competitive in the global marketplace, while adhering to all U.S. worker protection norms under the law.

In a statement, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N Mayorkas said the Biden-Harris administration’s priority is to attract global talent, reduce undue burdens on employers, and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration system.

Observing that the H-1B non-immigrant visa programme allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations, defined by statute as occupations that require highly specialised knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific speciality or its equivalent, the DHS said the proposed rule would change how USCIS conducts the H-1B registration selection process to reduce the possibility of misuse and fraud.

Under the current process, the more registrations that are submitted on behalf of an individual, the higher the chances of that person being selected in a lottery. Under the new proposal, each individual who has a registration submitted on their behalf would be entered into the selection process once, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf, the DHS said in a statement.

“This would improve the chances that a legitimate registration would be selected by significantly reducing or eliminating the advantage of submitting multiple registrations for the same beneficiary solely to increase the chances of selection. Furthermore, it could also give beneficiaries more choice between legitimate job offers because each registrant who submitted a registration for a selected beneficiary would have the ability to file an H-1B petition on behalf of the beneficiary,” it said.

Under the proposed rule, the criteria for speciality occupation positions would be revised to reduce confusion between the public and adjudicators and to clarify that a position may allow a range of degrees, although there must be a direct relationship between the required degree field(s) and the duties of the position.

The proposed rule codifies that adjudicators generally should defer to a prior determination when no underlying facts have changed at the time of a new filing.

Under the proposed rule, certain exemptions to the H-1B cap would be expanded for certain nonprofit entities or governmental research organisations as well as beneficiaries who are not directly employed by a qualifying organisation.

The DHS would also extend certain flexibility for students on an F-1 visa when students are seeking to change their status to H-1B. Additionally, the department would establish new H-1B eligibility requirements for rising entrepreneurs.

Strengthening integrity measures in addition to changing the selection process, misuse and fraud in the H-1B registration process would be reduced by prohibiting related entities from submitting multiple registrations for the same beneficiary. The rule would also codify USCIS’ authority to conduct site visits and clarify that refusal to comply with site visits may result in denial or revocation of the petition, the DHS said.

Indian American Ajay Bhutoria, a leading advocate for immigration reform welcomed the proposed ‘Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Programme, and Programme Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers’ regulation.

These proposed changes mark a significant step towards streamlining our immigration system and making it more accessible for highly skilled professionals and students from around the world, Bhutoria said.

“The proposed reform plan reflects a thoughtful approach to addressing some of the long-standing issues in the H-1B visa programme, including providing more flexibility to F-1 students and improving conditions for other nonimmigrant workers. We appreciate the DHS’s commitment to fostering an environment that is conducive to attracting global talent and maintaining the competitiveness of American industries,” Bhutoria said.

The US Mission to India has exceeded its target by processing over one million non-immigrant visa applications this year. US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti personally handed over the one millionth visa to an Indian couple visiting their son for his graduation at MIT.

The milestone signifies stronger ties between the US and India amid their strategic partnership. It also indicates the increasing interest among Indians to travel to the US post COVID pandemic.

According to news agency PTI, the recipient of the one millionth non-immigrant visa to the US is Dr Ranju Singh from Delhi. Her husband was granted the next visa. Ambassador Eric Garcetti greeted the couple as “Mr and Mrs One Million” while handing over their visa to them. The couple will travel to the US in May next year.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti hands over passport to one millionth visa holder and her spouse in Delhi pic.twitter.com/U77h5rn752

— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023

“I couldn’t be happier today, happy for India, Indians and the United States,” said Eric Garcetti.

While talking about what went behind this achievement, the Ambassador said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden had said let’s do a better job in moving faster on the visas and so the Ministry of External Affairs here approved more bodies in places like Hyderabad, more people who can work on these visas, we changed our systems, we worked harder and smarter and we hit a million visa applications processed this year.”

“Our partnership with India is one of the United States’ most vital bilateral relationships. The ties between our people are stronger than ever, and we will continue our record-setting volume of visa work in the coming months,” Ambassador Eric Garcetti said,

Last year, over 1.2 million Indians visited the US, solidifying this as one of the world’s most substantial travel relationships. Indians now account for over 10% of all visa applicants worldwide, with 20% seeking student visas and 65% applying for H&L-category employment visas.

To address the surging demand for US visas, the United States has made substantial investments in its operations in India. The US Mission has expanded its workforce to streamline visa processing, upgraded facilities at the US Consulate in Chennai, and inaugurated a new Consulate building in Hyderabad.

According to the US Embassy here, strategies to enhance efficiency have been implemented such as extending interview waiver eligibility and leveraging remote work to involve staff from around the world in Indian visa processing. A pilot program is also set to be implemented next year, allowing domestic visa renewal for qualified H&L-category employment visa applicants.