Update Regarding New H-1B Legislation

On December 17, 2004 the president signed into law the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004. Among the various new fees and regulations in this piece of legislation, there are two articles that will directly impact H-1 petitions filed by MU after March 8, 2005.

1. There will be a new $500 fraud prevention and detection fee for all new H-1B petitions and for all H-1B transfers to MU. The new $500 fee applies to petitions filed with USCIS on or after March 8, 2005. The $500 fee will not be imposed on H-1B extensions petitions for scholars currently employed in H-1 status at MU. Departments, not the H-1 scholar, will be required to pay this fee.
2. Under current law, employers only have to pay 95% of the prevailing wage. Under the new laws, employers will be required to pay 100% of the prevailing wage. We anticipate this change to be a problem in only a few cases. On a positive note, up until now there have been only two levels of wages used by the Department of Labor (DOL) to determine the prevailing wage, entry level and the mean for all others. Under the new regulations, DOL will now be required to provide at least four (4) levels of wages commensurate with experience, education and level of supervision. Employers will also be able to use surveys with four wage levels. We anticipate this to be a benefit in a significant number of cases.

Please note: Although the USCIS filing fee recently increased to $320 (effective July 30, 2007), the optional $1,000 premium-processing fee remain the same! The $500 fraud prevention and detection fee is in addition to these fees. Under the Reform Act, Universities are still exempt from the H-1 numerical limitation imposed on private industry. There is no "cap" to the yearly number of H-1 employees that can be employed by MU. Universities are also not required to pay the additional $1,500 training fee for each H-1 petition. Only private industry must pay this fee under the Reform Act.

If you have questions regarding this H-1B legislation, please contact the ISSS advisor for H-1B scholars