US mulls H-1B visa filing hike

The US plans to hike the H-1B visa application fee to increase funding for the expansion of an apprentice programme, labour secretary Alexander Acosta told American lawmakers.

The proposed hike will impose additional financial burden on Indian IT companies.

Testifying before a Congressional committee on the annual budget of the department of labour for the fiscal year 2020 beginning on October 1, 2019, Acosta said the labour department has also made changes to the H-1B application forms to ensure greater transparency and better protect American workers from employers seeking to misuse the programme.