Immigration Fee Hikes Have Companies Questioning System Fairness

Employers and foreign workers are going to absorb significantly higher visa costs as part of a recently finalized US Citizenship and Immigration Services plan to shore up its operating expenses.

Businesses are being asked to shoulder the growing financial burden of asylum processing as new migrants continue to arrive at the Southern border in large numbers. Those increased visa fees in new regulations include a $600 asylum program charge tacked onto new immigrant worker petitions.

The new USCIS fee schedule, issued last week after the release of draft regulations in 2023, is the first adjustment to payments for employment-based visas ...