Study Abroad: 332 per cent hike in visas. How it will affect students in US?

The immigration fees of the USA will witness a massive 332 per cent hike, including the H1-B visa. This hike was announced by the Joe Biden administration. The H1-B visa is the most effective choice for Indian and other international students who have plans to study abroad in the USA.

This new proposal was published by Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday, where they clearly stated that the immigration fees for the H1-B visa will increase. The immigration fee for an H1-B visa before this announcement was $460 (INR 37.8K), but now students need to pay $780 (INR 64.1K). 

The H1-B visa is one of the most effective non-immigrant visas that help US employers, organisations, and companies hire international workers as per their technical field expertise. The Indian students will also need to pay the same fees while entering the country to pursue education from reputed US universities. 

Every year, numerous large tech companies in the United States, especially the companies from Silicon Valley, hire thousands of international employees, especially from China and India. The hike in immigration fees might pose a threat to some employees. 

This rule implemented by Biden’s administration also stated that the fees for H2-B visas will increase from $460 (INR 37.8K) to $1,080 (INR 88.8K). On the other hand, the fees for L-1 visas will become $1,385 (INR 1.1 lakh) from $460 (INR 37.8K), which is about a 332 per cent hike. 

The L-1 visa is issued to employees and employers who work in a US-headquartered company outside the United States but need to come to the United States for their work. The immigration fees for the O-1 visa will also witness a massive 229 per cent hike, where the price would become $1,055 (INR 86.7K). 

The DHS announced that the fund of the USCIS is heavily dependent upon the fees charged to the applicants. The government decided to hike the application fees for the visas to ensure that USCIS receive the relevant fund as per their operations. 

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