H-1B Processing and Filing Fees
 

The H-1B process involves multiple fees. In general, most H-1B-related costs are considered by federal regulation to be the business expense of the employer and significant fines can result from failure to adhere to these regulations. For this reason, IUPUI hiring departments cannot allow their employees to assume the cost of most filing fees. Exceptions are noted in the discussion below.

Following is an explanation of the various H-1B-related fees and how they are typically handled.

Fees Charged by the Office of International Affairs

$300 processing fee. This fee covers OIA costs for processing and filing the H-1B petition. Requests to process an H-1B petition must include a departmental account number for FIS billing. The charge will be applied at the time the request is received and is 50% refundable if the prospective employee withdraws his/her acceptance of the employment offer prior to submission of the petition to the USCIS. Once the petition is submitted to the USCIS, the fee is non-refundable. This fee is not charged for H-1B extension petitions if a new Labor Condition Application is not required. Please be aware that Contracts & Grants has advised that this fee cannot be charged to grant accounts.

Annual $125 fee for visa services. Upon successful attainment of H-1B status for your employee, an annual fee of $125 is charged at the school or departmental level (as established by the school) for ongoing visa advising and related services provided by the Office of International Affairs to the department and the employee throughout the period of H-1B employment. This fee is not charged for persons for whom H-1B petitions are filed but never begin employment at IUPUI.

The annual $125 fee is charged to the school or department account already on file at OIA in accordance with billing procedures for all international students & scholars whose visas are sponsored by IUPUI. If you would like to confirm or change your contact and/or account information for this fee, please contact OIA Business Manager, Linda Bethuram, at 278-1266 or lbethura@iupui.edu.

It is assumed that H-1B employees will not be asked to reimburse for H-1B related fees charged directly to a campus unit.

Fees Charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

USCIS base filing fees*. USCIS filing fees are $320 for all H-1B petitions and $300 for dependents already in the US who need to obtain or extend H-4 status. You must pay the $320 filing fee, but you may require the employee to assume the $300 fee for his/her dependents. There is never an obligation for the employer to pay dependent-related immigration fees.

$500 USCIS ”anti-fraud” fee. Effective March 8, 2005, USCIS requires all new H-1B petitions for H-1B status to include the $500 anti-fraud fee in addition to the base $185 filing fee. This fee applies to all petitions for changes of visa status (e.g. from F-1 or J-1 to H-1B), petitions for a new employee from overseas, and petitions for new employees already in H-1B status with another U.S. employer. The fee is not required for H-1B extensions for current H-1B employees.

$1000 Premium Processing Fee (Optional): For an additional $1000 fee, USCIS offers premium processing within 15 working days, and will refund the fee if it does not review the petition within this timeframe. If you elect to use the premium processing option to obtain more timely employment authorization, you will be responsible for payment of the fee. If the employee elects to use premium processing in order to facilitate personal travel outside the U.S. or for other personal reasons not connected with the dates of employment authorization, the employee may pay the fee. In ambiguous cases where it may not be immediately obvious whether payment of the fee should be considered a business expense, OIA will review the reasons for the request and make a final determination on whether the employee can be allowed to pay the fee.

An H-1B petition can normally be prepared for submission to the USCIS within 4-6 weeks, assuming that required supporting documentation is provided without delay and no salary complications arise. Processing time at the USCIS may take 3-4 months, and in some cases longer. Persons already in valid H-1B status may be employed at IUPUI as soon as the petition is receipted by the USCIS. All others without currently valid authorization for the proposed employment at IUPUI must delay employment until the H-1B petition is approved.

Please note: By planning ahead and initiating H-1B petitions early, you may often be able to avoid payment of the $1000 premium processing fee without significant adverse effects on the employability of your employee, especially for continuing employees who need to change from another visa status to H-1B in order to maintain their employment authorization.