Who pays for Green Card fees?

F

FOR_GC31

New Member
Dear All,
May be this question was answered before but I did not find any firm answer to this specific matter:
- I have been working for this company for 1 year after I received mu GC in which they were the sponsor. Now I am moving on, got a job with better professional growth. My initial agreement with the boss was that I will be paying for the Green card fees, the direct cost related to the lawyer fees, in three years with amounts that will be taken from my annual bonus. I paid 1/3 of the total amount last year, this amount was taken from my annual bonus. Now that I am leaving, the boss is asking me to pay the remaining 2/3. I did a research online and I found that he has no legal right to ask me to pay for this.
Please advise!
Regards,
F-G
 
I posted a similar question a few months back. My company requires me to pay the green card fees if don't stay with the company for at least 2 years after getting the card. But I never had to pay the fees out of my own salary/bonus.

From what I can tell, unless a company can prove that you never intended to stay with them in the first place (which might happen if you left, say, 1 week after getting the card), then there is nothing they can do to you.

Since you've stayed more than a year, I would think that would be a non-issue.

So you have two issues to deal with:

1) They are taking the GC fees out of your bonus. That is illegal whether or not you stay with the company.

2) Can they come after you for the fees if you leave? That is a little more complicated, but from what I've read, they can't do that either.

Either way, you'd need to talk to an immigration lawyer.

Good luck.

mdh
 
I did a research online and I found that he has no legal right to ask me to pay for this.
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Of course he does. The company has every legal right to establish compensation rules for its employees. Rules which you agreed to. You agreed to pay back the money over 3 years.

I think you have your resaerch mixed up. It is infact the company that has NO obligation to pay for the GC. It is something that is negociated. You negociated poorly.

The best you can do is tell them you will pay the remainder at the time you would have paid them, but you will have to pay.
 
FOR_GC31 said:
Dear All,
May be this question was answered before but I did not find any firm answer to this specific matter:
- I have been working for this company for 1 year after I received mu GC in which they were the sponsor. Now I am moving on, got a job with better professional growth. My initial agreement with the boss was that I will be paying for the Green card fees, the direct cost related to the lawyer fees, in three years with amounts that will be taken from my annual bonus. I paid 1/3 of the total amount last year, this amount was taken from my annual bonus. Now that I am leaving, the boss is asking me to pay the remaining 2/3. I did a research online and I found that he has no legal right to ask me to pay for this.
Please advise!
Regards,
F-G
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if you have signed on paper, you are obliged to pay the fee stated in agreement.
 
GotPR? said:
if you have signed on paper, you are obliged to pay the fee stated in agreement.
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No. The law does not enforce illegal provisions in contracts, even though you signed it. There are certain fees associated with the green card for which it is illegal for the employer to get reimbursement from the employee, and illegal to make the employee pay. That is Federal law.

In state law, there may also be restrictions around making an employee pay for leaving before X number of years. In particular, it is common for such provisions to be deemed invalid if the employer was not guaranteeing to provide a job for the employee for at least that amount of time. Also, if the agreement was for you to pay 1/3 per year over 3 years, they probably can't (legally) demand that you pay the entire 2/3 right now; if you have to pay it, you can probably continue to pay it as 1/3 per year as originally agreed.

If the employer pushes this further, the OP needs to see an immigration lawyer and a labor lawyer to figure out what the law says for this situation. Countersuing to get back the 1/3 that was paid may also be possible if it goes to court.
 
There are very few fees which MUST be borne by the employer (PERM), and none are directly related to the grren card aplication itself.
 
Jackolantern said:
No. The law does not enforce illegal provisions in contracts, even though you signed it. There are certain fees associated with the green card for which it is illegal for the employer to get reimbursement from the employee, and illegal to make the employee pay. That is Federal law.
.
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if I remember correctly, only Labor (and that was a memo, not law as far as my memory serves) must be paid by employer. All others including lawyer fee could be legally reimbursed if it was agreed between employer and employee.

I'd like to see the actual clause you pointed to which states reimbusement of GC fee is not allowed. Appreciate if you point to the section and law.
 
GotPR? said:
I'd like to see the actual clause you pointed to which states reimbusement of GC fee is not allowed. Appreciate if you point to the section and law.
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Some specific fees can legally be reimbursed by the employee, some can't. I don't have that information at my fingertips regarding which can and can't, and don't have time to search for it now, but I have read it in the past. Regardless, the OP needs to see a lawyer unless the employer backs off.
 
I don't have the text of the actual law yet, but a quick search found this web site with some information:

http://www.usavisanow.com/fraud-faqs.html
# Does the rule prohibit reimbursement agreements?

# The regulation prohibits payment by the alien beneficiary or others of employer-incurred costs related to labor certification, including attorneys’ fees. If, for example, a reimbursement agreement would require the employee to reimburse the employer for some or all of the attorneys’ fees it incurred associated with preparing, filing and obtaining the labor certification, such reimbursement agreement would violate the Final Rule.

# What should employers do who have entered into contracts where payments from aliens are either owed after July 16, or owed prior to July 16 but not paid until after July 16?

# Section 656.12(b) prohibits an employer from seeking or receiving payment of any kind for activity related to obtaining permanent labor certification, including the employer’s attorneys’ fees. If the payment obligation, however, accrued prior to July 16, the employer has the right to seek the payment after the effective date.
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So it seems like in this case the OP may have to pay. But then again state law also applies, and the reimbursement agreement must be viewed in the context of the rest of the contract, so the OP would still need a lawyer to review the entire contract and evaluate it with respect to state law and immigration law.
 
People thought I was crazy that I handle my case without monetary help from the boss :rolleyes: I paid for everything including the labor certification . All my boss did was sign papers. I hope you can resolved your situation peacefully wit your former employers FOR_GC31.
 
Jackolantern said:
I don't have the text of the actual law yet, but a quick search found this web site with some information:
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The interesting part of the new regulations on payment of fees is that they appear to prohibit an alien from paying for his or her own legal counsel. I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't survive judicial scrutiny.
 
Jackolantern said:
I don't have the text of the actual law yet, but a quick search found this web site with some information:

http://www.usavisanow.com/fraud-faqs.html

So it seems like in this case the OP may have to pay. But then again state law also applies, and the reimbursement agreement must be viewed in the context of the rest of the contract, so the OP would still need a lawyer to review the entire contract and evaluate it with respect to state law and immigration law.
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I already stated yesterday that PERM expenses were not reimbursable, but everything else is.
 
envision said:
People thought I was crazy that I handle my case without monetary help from the boss :rolleyes: I paid for everything including the labor certification . All my boss did was sign papers. I hope you can resolved your situation peacefully wit your former employers FOR_GC31.
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You are not alone. My employer paid for advertisement and I-140 fees only.
 
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