Who Pays for Work Visa Fees, the Employer or the Employee?

For most employer-sponsored work visas, the employer pays the majority of the costs, and for several fees the law leaves no choice: they cannot be passed to the employee or recovered later. The worker pays only what is genuinely personal, such as their own visa stamping abroad, their dependents' filings, or a Green Card they pursue on their own.

The Department of Labor treats improper fee-shifting as a wage violation, with back pay, civil penalties, and debarment from the visa programs all on the table. The rules also differ sharply by fee and by visa type, which is where most employers get tripped up. This guide breaks down who pays, where the line is firm, and where there is room to decide.

What Rules Decide Who Pays?

Two different principles govern almost every answer in this article. The first is a wage-floor rule: an employer cannot pass a cost to a worker if doing so drops their pay below the required wage (the higher of the actual or prevailing wage). This wage-floor test covers the bulk of petition and filing costs. The second is a set of absolute bars: a handful of fees cannot be charged to the worker at all, even when their pay is well above the floor.

It also helps to separate three kinds of cost. Government filing fees go to USCIS or the Department of Labor. Attorney fees pay for legal work on the petition. Personal costs belong to the individual, such as a consular visa fee or a dependent's application. The government fees and the petition attorney fees are generally the employer's; the personal costs are the worker's. The Department of Labor lays out the H-1B version of these rules in its Fact Sheet #62H.

Who Pays Which H-1B Fees?

For an H-1B petition, the employer is responsible for the government filing fees and the legal work to prepare and file it. As of June 2026 those fees include the $215 registration fee, the base I-129 filing fee of $780 ($460 for small employers and nonprofits), the Asylum Program Fee of $600 ($300 for small employers, $0 for nonprofits), and, for companies with 50 or more employees where more than half are in H-1B or L status, an additional $4,000 fee. A fuller breakdown lives in our guide to H-1B costs for employers.

Two fees sit in their own category. The ACWIA training fee ($750 for employers with 1–25 full-time employees, $1,500 for those with 26 or more) and the $500 fraud prevention and detection fee can never be paid by the employee, whether through a deduction, a reimbursement, or a side agreement, and regardless of the worker's salary.

The same goes for any penalty for leaving the job early. Separately, if the employer terminates an H-1B worker before the end of the authorized period, it is responsible for the reasonable cost of the worker's return transportation abroad, generally a one-way coach airfare to the worker's last place of foreign residence. That obligation does not apply when the worker resigns, and it does not extend to the worker's dependents or household goods.

Premium processing ($2,965 as of March 1, 2026) is the one movable piece. When the company requests it for a business reason, it is the employer's expense. The employee may pay it only when it is sought purely for their own benefit, and even then only if the payment does not push their pay below the required wage. Because most premium-processing requests serve some business purpose, treat employee payment as the narrow exception and document the request in writing.

Who Pays for PERM and the Green Card?

PERM, the labor certification step in most employment-based green cards, carries the firmest rule in immigration. The employer must pay all of the costs, including its own attorney fees and every dollar of the required recruitment and advertising, and the employee cannot pay or reimburse any part of them (though the employee may pay for their own separate attorney if they choose to retain one). The Department of Labor spells this out in 20 CFR 656.12, and it bars wage deductions, kickbacks, and in-kind payments as ways around the rule. Improper payment here is grounds for denial, revocation, or debarment, so this is the costliest place to cut a corner.

After PERM, the rules loosen. The I-140 immigrant petition ($715 as of June 2026) can be paid by either party. The I-485 adjustment-of-status stage ($1,440) and its related steps are commonly paid by the employee, since the green card is a personal benefit, though many employers cover them as a relocation or benefits policy. There is generally no legal bar to the employee paying at this stage. Our overview of green card costs walks through each step.

Who Pays for L-1, O-1, TN, E, and H-2 Visas?

The H-1B logic carries over to most other employer-sponsored categories, with a few category-specific rules worth knowing. For the L-1, the employer pays the petition, the $500 fraud fee is employer-only like the H-1B version, and a $4,500 surcharge (amounts as of June 2026) applies to large, H-1B- and L-heavy employers. Our breakdown of L-1 visa costs covers the details.

The H-2A and H-2B programs have the strictest worker protections outside of PERM. Under Department of Labor rules, the employer must bear recruitment costs and certain transportation expenses, and workers cannot be charged prohibited fees for the job or the petition. The TN and E categories are more flexible, in part because much of the process can happen at a consulate with no I-129 petition, which shifts more of the cost to the consular and personal side. The O-1 still requires an employer-filed I-129 petition, but offers some flexibility in who files and how the fees are allocated.

What Can the Employee Pay For?

The employee's column is narrow. Costs that are genuinely personal belong to the worker:

• Their own consular visa application (MRV) fee and visa stamping at a U.S. consulate abroad.
• Their dependents' filings and visas, such as H-4 or L-2 applications.
• A Green Card they pursue as a self-petitioner, where there is no sponsoring employer, such as an EB-1A or an EB-2 national interest waiver.
• Their own separate attorney, if they choose to retain one apart from the company's counsel.

The recurring theme is sponsorship. When the company is the petitioner and the filing is part of employing the worker, the cost is the employer's. When the worker is acting for themselves or their family, the cost is theirs.

Can an Employer Make the Employee Repay Visa Costs?

This is where employers most often get into trouble, so it is worth stating the general rules and then talking to counsel about specifics. An employer cannot impose a penalty on an H-1B worker for leaving early, and it can never recoup the ACWIA training fee, including the situation where a third party fronts the fee and the worker later repays that third party. A genuine liquidated-damages clause (a reasonable estimate of actual loss agreed at the outset) can be valid, but a clause that functions as a penalty is not, and that distinction turns on state contract law.

State law is also moving quickly. California's AB 692, effective Jan. 1, 2026, voids most "stay-or-pay" and training-repayment clauses, and it is one example of a broader trend rather than a nationwide rule. The federal consequences of getting fee responsibility wrong are significant on their own: back wages, civil penalties per violation, and debarment from the visa programs for a year or more. Because repayment agreements sit at the intersection of immigration rules and state employment law, this is a place to get tailored legal advice before putting anything in a contract.

What About the $100,000 H-1B Fee and the $250 Visa Integrity Fee?

Two newer charges are still in motion, so treat the amounts and status as current only when you verify them. The first is the $100,000 H-1B fee introduced by a September 2025 proclamation, which has been the subject of active litigation. As of late June 2026, a federal court has ruled the fee unlawful, but that ruling is stayed pending appeal, so it remains collectible for now. Where it applies, generally new petitions that require consular processing, the same principle holds: it is the petitioning employer's cost and cannot be passed to the worker.

The second is a $250 visa integrity fee created in 2025 and set to apply across most nonimmigrant categories. It is to be charged to the individual at visa issuance, and employers may choose to cover it but are not required to. Our explainer on the visa integrity fee has more. Because government fees change regularly, confirm all current amounts before you budget.

How Manifest Handles Work Visa Costs

Manifest sponsors employer petitions across H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and the employment-based Green Card categories, and it bills the legal work as a flat per-case fee with no hourly billing. That fee is separate from the government fees the employer owes, and keeping the two clearly itemized is part of how we help HR and finance teams budget a program with confidence. When the question of who pays a given fee comes up, the answer is built into how the case is set up rather than left to sort out later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an employer make an employee pay H-1B fees?

Not for the core ones. The employer must pay the filing fees and the petition attorney fees, and it cannot pass them to the worker if doing so drops pay below the required wage. The ACWIA training fee and the $500 fraud fee can never be charged to the employee under any circumstances. The main fee an employee can sometimes pay is premium processing, and only when it is requested purely for their own benefit.

Who pays for premium processing?

The employer pays when premium processing serves a business need, such as meeting a start date. The employee may pay only when the request is purely for their personal benefit and the payment does not reduce their wage below the required level. Because most requests have a business purpose, employee payment is the exception, and it should be documented as a voluntary, written request.

Does the employee ever pay for a Green Card through their employer?

PERM costs are always the employer's, with no exceptions. After PERM, the I-140 can be paid by either party, and the adjustment-of-status stage is commonly paid by the employee because it is a personal benefit, though employers often cover it as policy. Self-petition green cards, such as the EB-1A or EB-2 national interest waiver, are paid by the individual because there is no sponsoring employer.

Can a company require an employee to repay visa costs if they leave?

It is heavily restricted. An employer cannot charge an H-1B worker an early-departure penalty or recoup the ACWIA fee, and many "stay-or-pay" clauses are now void under state laws such as California's AB 692. A true liquidated-damages clause may be enforceable, but whether a specific clause is valid depends on state law and the facts, so have counsel review it before using one.

Who pays for the employee's dependents and visa stamping?

Those are generally personal costs. The worker typically pays the consular visa fee for their own stamping abroad and the filings and visas for dependents, such as H-4 or L-2 applications. Employers sometimes reimburse these as a relocation benefit, but that is a business decision rather than a legal requirement.

Who pays the $100,000 H-1B fee and the $250 visa integrity fee?

Where the $100,000 H-1B fee applies, it is the employer's cost and cannot be passed to the worker. Its legal status is in flux, a court ruled it unlawful in June 2026 but that ruling is stayed pending appeal, so check the current position before relying on it. The $250 visa integrity fee is generally charged to the individual at visa issuance, and the employer may cover it but is not required to.

Disclaimer. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it, or contacting Manifest Law through this site, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and government fees change frequently, and the information here, including all fee amounts, is current only as of the publication date. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This communication is attorney advertising.