H-1B visa application process to begin tomorrow, Know about fee, lottery process, quota

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is ready to begin the process of application filing for H-1B visa from April 2 amidst unusual inspection by the US administration.

The USCIS, responsible for the filing of H-1B visa, had hinted at zero tolerance for even minor errors in the filing process. The filing process is for the fiscal year 2019, which begins on October 1, 2018, and will continue till the given quota for the year is completed.

The USCIS has made it very clear that filing of multiple applications will result in the petitions being rejected immediately. “After notice, we will deny or revoke the approval of all H-1B cap-subject petitions filed for one beneficiary by 'related entities' unless there is a legitimate business need,” the PTI quoted the USCIS.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations that require technical or theoretical expertise in work field.

The duration of the H-1B visa is three years, though it can be extended up to six years, unless applied otherwise. In special circumstances, the extension of the H-1B visa may go up to 10 years.

Indian companies will have to pay a higher fee for application than those from the other countries. On an average, per application, the Indian companies are required to pay $6,000 to the federal government.

The fee structure of the filing of H-1B is divided between the employer and the employee. A part of the fee will be paid by the employee and the rest will be paid by the employer. The fee can be paid by cheque or money orders to the Department of Homeland Security, and is divided into five basic parts-

Base filing fee- $460 (paid by the employer)

American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (AICWA) fee- $750 paid by employers with one to 25 full-time employees; $1,500 paid by employers with 26 or more employees

Fraud prevention and detection fee- $500 (paid by the employer)

Fee-based on Public Law- $4,000 (paid by the employer)

Attorney fee- variable amount paid by the employer

Visa stamping fee- varies for different countries, ranging from $500 to $3,000 (paid by the employee)

The USCIS has directed for a quota this year and will issue 65,000 H-1B visas, with an additional 2,000 visas for the applicants with a master’s degree from the US.

Also Read: Anti H-1B posters come up in San Francisco metro stations

The H-1B visas are allotted through lottery system every year, where each applicant is allotted a lottery number. The lottery is conducted through a computerized system that picks out the numbers randomly.

The USCIS will also look into the protection of the American workers. It said, “Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority for us. These efforts will help assist in the prosecution of program violators and ensure that American workers are not overlooked or replaced in the process.”