Grant Sovern Says Hurdles Loom Over Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Proposal in Wisconsin Public Radio Story
Grant Sovern, a partner in the Quarles & Brady Immigration & Mobility Practice Group, was quoted in a Wisconsin Public Radio story about the potential impact of President Trump’s announced $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications.
Announced last month, the fee — currently facing a lawsuit by a group of employers — would especially impact companies in the tech, education and medical sectors, some of the most frequent users of H-1B visas. Sovern explained why the fee may not come to fruition.
An excerpt:
Grant Sovern is an immigration attorney at Quarles & Brady, where he regularly files H-1B petitions for Wisconsin businesses. He’s doubtful the new visa fee will go into effect, due in part to the lack of a clear process in place for collecting or enforcing the fee.
“There is no way to pay that fee or to show someone that you paid it so you could get into the country if you have an H-1B,” Sovern told WPR. “So I’m highly skeptical that it will actually go into effect.”
He said the increased cost for employers also raises legal questions.
“This $100,000 fee isn’t at all related to the cost of processing the H-1B petitions,” he said. “The law does require that any filing fee has to be related to what it costs to get it done.”
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