Category Archives: Visa Info

Information about all types of US Visas and the best ways to obtain one

How Much Does It Cost To Get Your E3 or H1B Visa?

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Whether people ask or not, it is probably the question at the back of everyone’s mind, being how much money am I going to have to dole out for the right to work in the so-called “land of opportunity” of the US.

So what is the answer……well as with most questions about money with a legal twist, the answer is it depends and can be excessive but I will try and remove all the BS and summarize it all

For the H1B candidate (as it stands today)

The costs are generally borne by the sponsor employer but often the employer asks the prospective candidate to share these costs or bare it entirely which can be a big initial hit to your bank balance. Particularly when you consider the initial filing fee is non refundable if your petition fails as is the premium processing costs and of course lawyer fees. Then your consular application costs are of course non refunable if you fail as well.

Quite simple it is a rort with the only real beneficiaries being the lawyers as they are only the part of this whole chain who benefit regardless of the outcome with no ongoing costs or burdens in any way. So it is no small wonder why their lobby groups have been so strong in Washington DC for a long time. Immigration to them is big business with comparitively little work as most cases are straightforward, little time expended work that an actual qualified lawyer probably doesn’t do much with at all and his handled by hid/her assistants and para-legal associates.

To Apply for the Visa; (all USD)
1. USCIS Filing Fee with USCIS $390 – Form I-129 (Spouse optional H4 Fee is $300)
2. Fraud Detection Fee with USCIS $500
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3. LCA Filing Fee with Department of Labor FREE – Form ETA 9035/9035e (a small win here…although am sure will change one day)
Also have to ensure prevailing wages are met as well in this part so you are paid the same or more as a US worker in same position)
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4. Premium Filing Fee $1,000 (optional – Form I-901) – excessive designed to help process where your legal representative has access to case officer phone number and decisions are made fast in 15 days and can also aid spouse partner H4 visa process
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5. ACWIA Fee $750 or $1,500 – if your petition is successful this goes to a training fund for US workers and is $1,500 unless you have less than 25 full time employees. Some government, education and non-profit institutions are exempt from this fee
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6. Consular Application Fee $131 (x2 for spouse)
7. Visa Issuance Fee $100 (x2 for spouse) (but varies by country so check http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/reciprocity/index.htm

TOTAL (if you do it the most effective way with premium processing) $3,621 +$531 for spouse

Now in all of these costs I did not include any attorney costs. So if you are a couple the bill is already over $4,000 before legal fees hit. Now truth be told you don’t need a lawyer but with H1B cases, good companies always use lawyers and if you are a foreign citizen who has to do this, unless you know the US System back to front, a lawyer is probably a good idea.
Costs here probably vary from $1,000 to $3,000 for a standard case but have heard of a lot more.

Like I said if you have good employer they will probably pay all costs including legal costs except maybe for the consular application and issuance fees. However do realize what you are getting yourself into should you choose to go down this road as of course you will have travel, accomodation, lease deposit and other expenses as well. Remember your spouse can’t work either on the H4 visa.

The Immigrant Life is Tough!!

For the E3 candidate (as it stands today)

Life is a little easier as the USCIS and AWCIA fees are eliminated and premium filing is not an option nor is it necessary when you make initial applications because of the difference in process. So you might have read in previous posts how hard things are with E3, well like I also said Aussies do have it easier than most!!

1. LCA Filing Fee with Department of Labor FREE (a small win here…although am sure will change one day)
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2. Consular Application Fee $131 (x2 for spouse)
3. Visa Issuance Fee $100 (x2 for spouse) (but varies by country so check http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/reciprocity/index.htm
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4. Spouse Optional Filing Fee To Work i765 $340

TOTAL $231 +$231 for spouse +$340 spouse work

Now while many employers still use lawyers for the E3 visa process, I always wonder why, as it is designed to be an extra simple process compared to H1B, unless there is something really unusual in your case (i.e. criminal conviction or something).

There are advantages to the H1B with the easier relative path to green card but in this capacity (costs), E3 is clearly superior!!

Happy Saving 🙂

CJ

The 10 Steps To Your E3 or H1B Visa and Work

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OK i just wanted to do a quick note on the outline of getting your visa so it is an easy reference post with not too much fluff for people so they get an overview. I am not sure either if there are exactly 10 steps but it sounds like a nice round number so lets start writing and see how many major steps there are.

Step 1. Find An Employer (Visa Sponsor) – without going into too much detail as I will ina later post my favourite sites include craigslist.org, monster.com and linkedin.com for searching

Step 2. Have The Employer Fill Out The Sponsorship Document and Pay The Relavent Filing Fees – I guess technically you could do this on their behalf and pay for it and then have them send it but chances if it is a reputable employer they will do it all probably via their attorneys. For H1B this requires filing to both US Immigration and Department of Labor and for E3 just Department of Labor.

Step 3. Understand Your Dates – For E3 this is relatively simple as the forms can be filed all year around and although their is an annual quota it has never been reached and you can begin employment at any time. As for H1B this is more complicated as there is annual filing date of April 1 and hard quotas as well. Even if you get your approval and your visa from the consulate you cannot begin employment until October 1 that year.

Step 4, Make you Interview – When you have or anticipate to have all your documents both from your employer and the ones you have to prepare yourself along with fees, photos and other proof documents ready then book an interview with your closed US consulate that can process that type of visa. Every country and sometimes city has different wait times, methods of interview, turnaround times, etc. so be prepared

Step 5. Book Your Ticket – Depending on how brave and confident you are, you could have done this earlier on in anticipation of getting your visa but in any case I will put it here. Be prepared at your port of entry into the US especially if you have an E3 visa (as it is largely unheard of even by Immigration staff at the border) to answer potential questions. Don’t worry if you have all in order you will be fine, although it may seem tense depending on the person you get. I have had both awesome and not so good people.

Step 6. Get A Social Security Number – This is essentially your key to living in the US and is vital from everything to opening a bank account, getting a mobile phone, credit cards, signing a lease, potentially getting paid…although with a lot of these things technically it is not required but you have to do a lot of talking to superiors and no what you are talking about (I will discuss this in a later post). You can only do this from within the country and it can take up to 6 weeks for them to send you your card and number but usually it is 2-4 weeks.

Step 7. Start Work!!

Well what do you know I guess it was only 7 steps…and like I said there is more detail and tips to the steps above which I will cover in the future as well as steps in between like finding a place to live, best phone plans, discounts, etc. but this at least is a high level overview of your journey.

Bon Voyage 🙂

CJ