US Congress doubles fee on H1B, L1 visas

Despite India’s objection, the US Congress has doubled a special fee on the popular H-1B and L-1 visas raising it up to $4,500 to fund a 9/11 healthcare act and biometric tracking system that will hit Indian IT companies. [caption id=“attachment_2538058” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Republican-led US Congress hikes H1B visa fee/ Reuters[/caption] Congressional leaders, while agreeing on the $1.1 trillion spending bill, decided to impose a special fee of $4,000 on certain categories of H-1B visas and $4,500 on L-1 visas. The US House of Representative is slated to vote on the $1.1 trillion spending bill deal Friday. The money generated from the special fee, expected to be more than a billion dollar per annum, would be used to fund a biometric entry and exit tracking system, in addition to funding health screenings and treatments for 9/11 first responders. According to the agreed bill, the new $4,000 fee would apply to companies having at least 50 employees with 50 per cent of their employees on H-1B or L-1 visa. Such companies would have to pay a new fee of $4,000 for H-1B visas and $4,500 for L-1 visas. While the specific provisions of the spending bill have no mention of Indian IT companies, the language of the bill has been written in such a way that it would have a big impact on Indian IT companies. Though the lawmakers behind the bill described it as a temporary provision, the new H-1B and L-1 visa fee increase is for a period of 10 years compared with the previous provision of five years. PTI