US hikes fees for non-immigrant visas; move to impact Indian IT firms

The filing fees for H-1B high-skill visas has been hiked by 21 per cent to $555, while that for L (intra-company transfer) visas has been increased by 75 per cent to $850

The US Department of Homeland Security, on Friday, approved a hike in fees for non-immigrant visas with effect from October this year.

According to the document accessed from the US government's Federal Register, the DHS has adjusted United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fees by a weighted average increase of 20 per cent, adding new fees for certain immigration benefit requests and establishing multiple fees for non-immigrant worker petitions. This comes after the USCIS, which administers the country's naturalisation and immigration system, appealed to the Congress for a $1.2 billion bailout package amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has severly impacted