NEW H-1B NUMBERS AND HIGHER H-1B FEES DUE

New H-1B Provisions

A new Omnibus bill was passed by Congress on November 20, 2004.   The bill became law on December 8, 2004.  The law exempts 20,000 foreign nationals with Masters' degrees or higher from U.S. schools from the H1B cap. These new visas will be available on March 8, 2005.  It is not yet clear when petitions can be filed for these new visas, although the USCIS has stated that it will not accept such petitions at this time. 

Additional H1B Fees

The employer-funded training fee will also be reinstated. This fee was $1,000 when it was last in force, but will now increase to $1,500 per H1B petition. This fee is in addition to the normal $185 H-1B filing fee and the optional $1,000 premium-processing fee. Employers with fewer than 25 full-time employees in the United States will only pay half of this new $1,500 fee, i.e. $750. As in the past, this fee – whether $1,500 or $750 must be paid by the employer, not the employee.  This fee is effective as of December 8, 2004.

There is also a new $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection fee that will be paid for initial H1B and L-1 petitions (including any initial H-1B or L-1 change-of-status petition). This fee will be imposed on all petition filed after March 8, 2005.

Prevailing Wage Requirements

Further, the employer will be required to pay 100% of the prevailing wage. Previously, there was a 95% rule to allow for some flexibility in cases where an employer was allowed to pay 95% of the prevailing wage. On the plus side, the governmental survey will have at least four levels, rather than the current two levels.

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