IT Firms Say Government Collected Millions in Unlawful H-1B Fees

Multiple companies that rely on H-1B high-skilled guestworker visas to provide workers for the IT sector say they have unlawfully been required to pay thousands of dollars per visa application.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has collected over $350 million in unlawful visa fees over the last six years from IT staffing and similar businesses, ITServe Alliance, a trade association representing over 1,200 information technology companies that brought the lawsuit, said in a complaint filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Companies with at least 50 U.S.-based employees that have 50% or more of ...