On May 4, 2016, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service
(USCIS) published notice of a proposal to increase certain
government filing fees and create a new fee. The average increase
is 21 percent, but the highest increases are for the visas used by
American businesses to bring skilled workers to the United States,
immigrant investors creating jobs for Americans and immigrants
acknowledged to have extraordinary ability.
A 42 percent increase is proposed for the Form I-129 used for
the most common work visas, including H-1B professional, O-1
extraordinary ability, and L-1 intracompany transfer visas, as well
as E-1 treaty trader, E-2 treaty investor and E-3/FTA H-1B1/TN
treaty professional visas processed in the United States rather
than at an American consular post or Preflight Inspection Unit
abroad. A 42 percent increase is also proposed for the Form I-140
used for EB1, EB2 and EB3 employment-based immigrant visas.
