US court denies plea to postpone immigration fee hikes; H-1B visa, Green Cards to become costlier from Apr

The plaintiffs, including ITServe Alliance, the American Immigrant Investor Alliance (AIIA), and a Canadian EB-5 investor, had sought to delay the imposition of the revised fees until the lawsuit is resolved...

As a result, applicants, including American employers, will now be required to bear the increased visa and immigration fees, which span a broad range of applications..

According to a TOI report, the lawsuit, initiated by ITServe Alliance and AIIA, challenges the substantial fee hikes in EB-5 visa fees and the additional asylum fee for employers hiring H-1B workers, which were introduced without proper rule-making procedures..

AIIA acknowledges the court's decision but maintains that the increased fees would impose substantial financial burdens, particularly on EB-5 investors...

The USCIS announced significant fee increases for EB-5 investors, with initial I-526 petitions now costing $11,160, a 204% hike, and I-829 application fees rising to $9,535, a 154% increase.. Matthew T. Galati, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment with the court's decision, telling TOI, " While we were disappointed that the judge did not give our plaintiffs and millions of affected immigrants what we asked for, we do wish to note that the court specifically left open -- for deciding later in this suit -- our most important arguments that the Fee Rule is unlawful..

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