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Visa application fees lowered

As of June 15, 2009 the US government has adjusted the euro-dollar exchange rate, formerly $1 = € 0.82, to $1 = € 0.76. The $131 application fee for a non-immigrant visa, formerly € 107.42, is now € 99.56.

Applicants for a US visa must fill out an online payment confirmation form in order to get a valid visa payment confirmation. This has to be presented during the interview at your local US consulate. The online payment confirmation service is provided by Roskos & Meier OHG.

H-1B petitions still possible

As reported before, the H-1B quota of 65,000 applications for the fiscal year 2009/2010 that begins October 1, 2009 and end September 30, 2010 has not yet been met. By June 5, 44,000 petitions had been received.

Since H-1B petitions can be submitted six months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year to USCIS, the first possible date for petitions every year is April 1.

Over the past years this usually led to the USCIS announcing April 2 as the final receipt date, since more than 150,000 petitions were received within 48 hours. This year’s relatively low number of petitions is suspected to be a direct result of the worldwide financial crisis. The crisis also led to the following change of regulations:

Companies who have received financial support from the US government not only have to state this in their H-1B petition, but will also be classified “dependent employers.” This has serious consequences, as it means they have to submit additional documentation from the Department of Labor.

As soon as this year’s H-1B quota is reached, new applications cannot be submitted before April 1, 2010 for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2010.

Good luck to all applicants!

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