Visa fee hike to pay for data gathering

HR Magazine, June, 2008 by Aliah D. Wright

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to extend a J-1 visa fee increase to help pay for a nonimmigrant information collection program.

The proposed regulation was posted on the Federal Register March 26.

Fees for J-1 visas--which allow for eigners to enter the United States to work as au pairs, camp counselors, physicians, teachers or students or to simply soak up the experience of living in the United States--were increased on Jan. 31, from $100 to $131, says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The $131 fee is in addition to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) fee of $100 that funds government monitoring of school and exchange programs. It ensures that visa holders maintain their status while in the United States. Officials say additional "reciprocity" fees might also be applied, depending on which country foreigners are coming from.

The tightening of visa regulations because of the events of Sept. 11 has been an impediment to foreigners seeking to come to the United States, and the rise in fees, however slight, occurs at a time when a number of employers report declines in qualified foreign applicants. That includes the medical industry, which reports that rural clinics relying on international medical graduates to staff their facilities are facing a shortage attributable to rules requiring that foreign doctors on J-1 visas return to their own countries for two years after completing their U.S. residencies. In some cases, doctors can stay for three years, but only if they agree to work in remote locations that have a hard time retaining caregivers.

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates reports that the number of foreign medical grads who come to the United States on J-1 visas fell from 11,471 to 6,033 since 1998.

The Exchange Visitor Program's goal is to increase understanding between foreigners and U.S. citizens through a variety of cultural and educational exchange programs, the State Department says. ICE reports that as of Jan. 15, there were 978,906 active nonimmigrant students, exchange visitors and their dependents in the SEVIS system; more than 180,000 had J-1 visas.

Aliah D. Wright is a SHRM Online editor/manager.