Late last year, Congress passed the L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004.  Among other things, the law requires the filing of a new $500 fee for each initial L petition or change of status request.  This fee is in addition to the existing filing fees for L visa petitions ($185 or $1,185 for premium processing) but applies only to the principal alien, not his or her dependents.  The money collected is deposited into an “H-1B and L Fraud Prevention and Detection Account.”  There are no exceptions to this filing fee; it applies to all principal beneficiaries of an initial L-1 petition with a given employer.

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