Congress Proposes Exorbitant Fee for I-129s and I-140s
Posted Nov 03, 2000
Just when potential H1B employers are still absorbing the news of the doubling of the H1B "training fee" from $500 to $1,000 as of December 17, 2000, comes the news of a Congressional proposal of an additional $1,000 "Premium Processing Fee!"
The spending bill to fund the Departments of Commerce, Justice (which includes the INS) and State introduces a "premium processing fee" to expedite I-129 nonimmigrant petitions and I-140 immigrant petitions. The premium fee, which would also be an additional $1,000, is supposed to guarantee a quick turnaround time. No set timeframe is indicated but the INS seems to indicate a 15-day period. Under ACTA, the regular H1B processing time goal is supposed to be 30 days, so the expedited time period would need to be shorter than that.
The 15-day expedited turnaround time would mean that within 15 days of receiving the I-129 or I-140 petition, INS would need to either issue a decision on the case or a notice requesting any additional information that may be needed to process the case.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has identified some potential problems with this procedure, including a slowing down of the processing time for non-premium cases and the possibility that INS could comply with the timeframe by issuing more Requests for Evidence (RFEs) when no more information is actually needed to process cases, just to buy additional time. Also, the law now requires that H1B petitions be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and this two-track system would run contrary to that mandate.
The final budget for these agencies has not been signed yet by the President, because the bill fails to address the updating of the "registry" date, restoration of 245(i) and other immigration equity issues the President favors. Some changes may be made to the pending budget bill, so at this point it is not absolutely certain that the premium fee will be included. Still, reliable sources say the Administration supports this fee.
Concerned companies and individuals should make themselves heard. Contact your Senators and Representatives, as well as the White House to express your views. The Capitol (Senate and House of Representatives) switchboard number is 202-224-3121 and the White House comment line is 202-456-1111.
While most of us believe that any good service requires fees and therefore companies wanting service should pay a fee for reliable and competent service, our concern is that already the filing fees and training fees have been increased to $1,110 for H1Bs effective from December 17, 2000. Most of us know that INS takes approximately 10 minutes to review an H1B Petition but it takes them anywhere from 30 days to about 10 months in some egregiously backlogged cases, to issue final decisions. When there is no rational correlation between the fee charged and the service provided, then many of us are rightly concerned about this additional premium fee, which seems to have no accountability attached to it with no definite time frames or assurance that quality service will be provided by well trained INS officers.
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