The petitioning company pays the petition fees, which include the Form I-129 fee, the fraud-prevention fee and, for certain larger employers, an additional statutory fee. Amounts come from the current USCIS fee schedule.
Read the fee schedule for the petitioner's profile
Hypothetical example: a Mission wood-products company with sixty employees across both countries asks whether the transferred manager can reimburse the petition costs. The petitioner is the party filing, and the fees are the petitioner's obligation; treat any reimbursement request as a matter to raise with counsel before agreeing. The applicable charges are the Form I-129 filing fee, the fraud prevention and detection fee for initial L petitions, an asylum program fee that varies with employer size, and an extra statutory fee that applies only to employers with fifty or more U.S.
employees when more than half hold H or L status. Premium processing is optional and additional. Family members' applications carry their own fees.
The USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055, is the source for current amounts and exemptions; do not rely on figures quoted in a prior year's budget. Hypothetical example: A medical-device distributor budgets filing fees, premium processing and relocation for a senior manager, then asks the manager to repay the entire amount through payroll deductions. The first review distinguishes the petitioner's filing expenses from ordinary relocation benefits and from any separate personal advice the worker chooses to obtain.
Invoices and signed policies settle the cost allocation. More importantly, the petition must be filed by a qualifying organization in the corporate group; either a U.S. employer or a foreign employer may file, but a foreign employer must have a legal business entity in the United States.
A reimbursement arrangement cannot cure a filing by an unrelated company. Resolve the payer and signer before submitting, and preserve the approval notices and receipts for later extensions or a change in corporate structure.