Covered employers will have to pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee on all H-1B and L-1 extension-of-status petitions, including routine same-employer extensions, beginning September 9.
A final rule from DHS is expanding the fee to all H-1B and L-1 extension-of-status petitions filed by employers that have at least 50 employees in the United States and whose U.S. workforce is more than 50% H-1B or L-1 workers. This means that covered employers will incur a significant new recurring expense for routine same-employer extensions.
The supplemental fee remains $4,000 for H-1B petitions and $4,500 for L-1 petitions. It will continue to apply to petitions seeking an initial grant of H-1B or L-1 status as well as to change-of-employer petitions. Amended petitions that do not request an extension of status remain exempt. The fee provisions will expire September 30, 2027, unless Congress extends them.
Covered employers should update their immigration budgets and filing procedures to account for the additional fee.
Click here to read more from the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association.