Relief for H-1B, non-immigrant visa holders as US court blocks 'fee hike'

A US federal court has granted a preliminary injunction against the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee hike that was scheduled to come into effect from October 2.
 

The move offers temporary relief to non-immigrant visa holders and Indian IT companies, which are major beneficiaries of such visas.

"The temporary injunction is a positive outcome for both humanitarian cases (such as asylum) and in business cases such as H-1Bs as many would pay an additional $4,000 per application, going forward, otherwise," Poorvi Chothani, founder and managing partner of LawQuest, a Mumbai-based US immigration law firm. "Though it is a