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New Law Greatly Increases H-1B and L-1 Filing Fees and Allocates $600 Million To Increase Border Security and Immigration Enforcement

Berin S. Romagnolo 8/16/2010

President Obama signed a bill into law Friday, August 13, 2010 to (1) increase H-1B and L-1 filing fees for employers with significant foreign national workforces, and (2) spend $600 million to tighten immigration security and enforcement efforts, particularly along the Southwest border.  The L-1 filing fee and fraud prevention and detection fee is increased by $2,250 for applicants with at least 50 employees in the United States if more than 50% of them are working in H-1B or L-1 status.  The H-1B filing fee and fraud prevention and detection fee is increased by $2,000 for applicants with at least 50 employees in the United States if more than 50% of them are working in H-1B or L-1 status.  The increased fees' provision is effective upon enactment of this law and ends on September 30, 2014.  The increased fees are likely to have a significant impact on outsourcing and consulting companies in the U.S. who use largely foreign national employees, including information technology consulting companies.

The new law also allocates $600 million to increase border security and immigration enforcement efforts.  Although the focus is to tighten security along the Southwest border, all immigration enforcement efforts across the United States will be heightened.  For example, $50 million is targeted for hiring additional immigration agents, investigators, intelligence analysts, and support personnel, and $8 million is targeted to provide basic training for new Customs and Border Patrol Officers, Border Patrol Agents, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. 

The detailed listing of how the $600 million will be spent can be found in the final version of the Bill as enacted, which can be obtained by clicking on the pdf above.

If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this, please contact Berin S. Romagnolo in our Immigration and Employment Groups.

This Alert is provided for information purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice.  According to Mass. SJC Rule 3:07, this material may be considered advertising. ©2010 Posternak Blankstein & Lund LLP.  All rights reserved.