Important Hiring Information

We would like to inform you of two sudden but major changes in the H-1B laws recently passed by the U.S. Congress. Most of these changes will be effective on March 8, 2005. Although there are a number of changes in H-1B laws, only two of them will have a significant impact on the hiring departments at The University of Tennessee.

Anti-Fraud Fee

There will now be a new "anti-fraud fee" of $500 charged to all employers who file H-1B petitions. This fee is intended to fund several U.S. Government offices to investigate cases of suspected H-1B fraud. Although the applications filed by UT (we assume!) are not fraudulent, this new fee must be paid by all H-1 petitioners. Any H-1B petition for new UT employment received by the Department of Homeland Security on or after March 8, 2005 must include an additional fee of $500, in addition to the regular H-1B filing fee of $185 for a total of $685 (or $1685 for an application filed with premium processing.)

Applications for H-1B extensions for current UT employees, we understand, will not require the $500 fee. Because it usually takes 3-6 weeks to complete the many steps in an H-1B application, we suggest that petitions be received by the UT Center for International education before February 1, 2005 in order to avoid this new fee. (We still cannot guarantee that the application will be filed before March 8, but we will do our best.)

Prevailing Wage

As you know, all H-1B employees must be paid the "prevailing wage" as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor (as reported by the Tennessee Department of Labor). Until now, we were permitted to pay 95% of the stated prevailing wage. In many cases, the salary offered by UT was, in fact, in the 5% range below the prevailing wage, enabling us to file an H-1B petition. Beginning on March 8, 2005 we will be required to pay 100% of the prevailing wage. It is my current understanding that this requirement will apply only to Labor Condition Applications filed on or after March 8, 2005. Again, in order to avoid the requirement to pay the higher wage, we urge you to send the H-1B request to us before February 1, 2005.

Because this law has just been passed, we are still learning about how these new requirements will be implemented. We will continue to monitor announcements from the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor and will keep you updated. I thank you for your patience as we weather the transition to these new laws. Please feel free to contact Wendy Syer, Assistant Director, Center for International Education, if you have any questions at ths point (syer@utk.edu).