H1B Filing fee

A

abhi_medhyd

New Member
I am a MD planning to join residency this July 09 on a H1B visa. I recently found out that my University (employer) is interested to sponsor a J1 visa instead of H1 visa due to financial problems. I told them that I would pay for my H1B visa, but they were telling that some part of the visa fee (I believe the filing fee of 320$ and fraud protection fee of 500$) must be paid by the employer only. This is a non cap H1B visa. I found in murthy forum http://www.murthy.com/h1bfaqs.html#22 that the employee (me) can pay the filing fee of 320$ and fraud protection fee of 500$. My employer doesnt have to pay the training fee/data collection fee (Exempted as this is a non profit/secondary education university). But in the I-129 instruction form from USCIS http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-129instr.pdf (page no 22) it stated that the employer should pay all the fees (not premium processing fee)

This is very important to me as I don't have to go for the J1 visa. I really appreciate your expert opinion in this matter.

Thank you.
 
Both J1 and H1 have their own advantages and disadvantages. But you can talk to the officials and see if they can pay the mandatory fees and charge you for the same amount on some other account.
 
If you come on J1 visa as a researcher/PostDoc, you will likely have
to go home after the end of visa validity. In addition, most Universities
sponsoring a H1B visa (for a PostDoc) will NOT sponsor you for a green card.
If you want to stay in the US, DO NOT come on a J1 visa.

Now, you may think, with an H1B visa from University I will be fine ?
Think twice. If the H1B visa is cap-exempt, which is the case when
sponsored by Universities, you cannot transer it to industry in case
you find a better paid job at a company and/or your Univ job s###.
You are stuck for good with your University/job/low pay. For years...

Lower-tier Universities often hire foreigners on H1B visa
as Assist Prof, which is like being a slave. Then, Universities
have such rules that they will not file for your green card unless
you have worked one full year on H1B visa. They can "delay" filing
at wish, and you will have to push the paperwork... ! Universities can pay
you very very low salaries, much lower than in industry, for many more
work hours, assignments, stress. I know people who are
forced to teach classes of 200+ students so the University can save
money by not hiring faculty. Cheap labor... and if you are
sufficiently unlucky to be in a "bad" department, you will be taken
advantage of, and suffer for years, until your green card
arrives (which can take years if you are from India
or China).
Then, it get's better: as Assist Prof., after 6 years, you apply
for tenure. They can deny it based on anything they want... and
guess what ? They do it and hire a new foreigner on cap-exempt H1B as Assist
Prof at low salary, to replace you, the slave. That's how it goes,
and I hope some day DHS will have a look at this wide-spread abuse.

So: the cap-exempt H1B for Universities is a trap for skilled
foreign scientists. My advice: everyone keep off !

The best option ? Wait until the economy recovers, which
should be some time in 2009-2010. There won't be sufficient
highly skilled workers in the US to take the jobs, and you can get
a real good position. Have the industry sponsor
your H1B. Transfer to other company if you are not happy
with the first company. Have your company file your green card
right after you start work on H1B. Ask for it. if they refuse:
change company. That's freedom of choice.

If you like academia, once you have your green card
you can always take a job at a top-tier (only) University.
They love people with industry experience.
 
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