For better or for worse, the business of immigration is often a costly one. For L visa applications, petitioning employers are responsible for both filing fees and attorney’s fees, should they choose to retain our experienced L visa immigration attorneys. Filing fees are charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for administrative processing, while attorney’s fees are paid to Zhang & Associates for our professional services.
Below is a tabulated breakdown of costs for your reference.
Filing Fees |
As mentioned above, filing fees are charged by the U.S. government (USCIS in particular). Processing thousands of applications is expensive and requires the services of dozens of immigration officers, specialists, analysts, managers, and other bureaucrats. Note that filing fees that apply to your case should be submitted to our firm a sufficient period of time before filing your application with USCIS. |
Initial Attorney’s Fee |
The initial fee is due upon retaining Zhang & Associates. Our firm must receive this payment before we can start work on your case. |
Approval Attorney’s Fee |
The approval fee is due upon your application’s approval. Accordingly, this fee is applicable only if your L petition is approved. Note that it is due promptly after receiving an approval notice. |
L-1 Filing Fees
The current table of fees provides three different schedules for a Regular Petitioner, Small Employer (having 25 employee or fewer full-time equivalent employees), or Nonprofit respectively. A petitioning employer should prepare a transaction authorization form in the applicable amount.
Fee Name |
Fee Amount |
More Information |
Base Filing Fee |
$1,385, OR |
$460 if petitioner is filing as a Small Employer or Nonprofit. |
Asylum Program Fee |
$600, OR |
$300 if petitioner is filing as a Small Employer. |
Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee |
$500 |
This fee is required if petition is: (1)Seeking initial approval of L nonimmigrant status for a beneficiary; (2) Seeking approval to employ an L nonimmigrant currently working for another petitioner; or (3) For blanket petitions, seeking approval for an L nonimmigrant to continue employment with an entity different from the previous petitioner. |
Public Law 114-113 Fee |
$4,500 |
Under Public Law 114-113, the petitioning employer is obligated to pay this fee if it is required to submit the Fraud Prevention and Detection fee, it has more than 50 employees, and more than 50% of its employees are on H-1B or L-1 status. |
Premium Processing Services Fee |
$2,805 |
Optional, if a petitioning employer desires to have the petition adjudicated within 15 business days. |
L-1 Attorney’s Fees
Before retaining our firm for your L-1 case, feel free to contact us for an initial free consultation. An individual client may be charged a higher, or lower, fee, depending on the totality of circumstances of the client’s case. Zhang & Associates reserves the right to charge a higher fee.
Please contact our office regarding fees and contracts.
For information on payment methods, please click here.
For more information on the L-1 category, refer to the following links: