Can Your Employer Make You Repay O-1 Visa Costs

Hi,

When I renewed my work Visa at my job which I had worked at for 3 years previously on a O1 visa my employer stated that I had to work there for at-least a year or I would have to pay the $4,500.00 back to him. Is it legal to do that? I really want to change my jobs and do not want to wait another 6 months for the year period to be over or have to pay back the $4.5k.

Really appreciate your help

Can't see anything that specifically applies to O-1 visas but it appears that with other employment-based visas, while the employer is not allowed to charge a PENALTY for leaving early, they are allowed to recoup their actual costs of the visa process. Further voluntary departures from the job do not require the employer to pay you to return to your country of origin.

Note, once you stop working, you are no longer legally present in the US. You can't job hop with this visa (though another employer can start a new application).

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Quoting UK2312

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When I renewed my work Visa at my job which I had worked at for 3 years previously....

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That seems odd, to me. Was your initial authorization for three years? If so, was there any sort of fee of this type associated with your original agreement with your employer? If not, did the question of this fee come up before, with past renewals?

When applying for an O-1 visa, or after any material change in the terms of employment, your employer has to submit your written contract of employment or a summary of the terms of your employment to the USCIS. Do you have a written employment contract? If so, what does it say about this fee -- how it is calculated, when it is due, whether it is prorated, etc.? If not, do you have access to any of the summaries submitted to the USCIS in association with your employment and, if so, does it say anything about this type of fee?

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Quoting UK2312

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...on a O1 visa my employer stated that I had to work there for at-least a year or I would have to pay the $4,500.00 back to him. Is it legal to do that?

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That's going to depend upon (a) whether it's a reasonable amount and (b) whether you agreed to repay the fee. If you entered your agreement in your nation of origin, that could complicate the question of whether or not such a fee would be enforceable in that nation, but here in the U.S. your employer would be very unlikely to be able to impose any such fee without your signature on a written agreement and the fee being reasonable in its amount. (Laws vary by state, so the details may vary.)

Do you have any idea how your employer came up with that figure?

Hi,

Yes initially my first visa was for 3 years on an O1 visa and once I completed the 3 years I went through and did a new visa rather than renewing it.

I don't recall signing a contract but the communication was all through email with regards to having to pay back the lawyer fees of $4500 which was the original fee.

I had to pay $1000 ontop of this as a express processing as my boss was not happy with the time frames. He took that money from my end of year bonus.

I think I have the application letters as a digital file so I should look through that and see if there was anything in there to state that I have to pay it back but the only time I agreed to the terms of paying it back was through an email conversation as I did not really have a choice with this.

I appreciate all your help

I just read through the contract that was given for th visa process and all it states is my salary and the visa duration (3years) it does not state that I have to pay back the cost. Like I said in the last message that was just said in an email which I then had to agree too so I could stay in the USA basically

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Quoting UK2312

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Hi,

Yes initially my first visa was for 3 years on an O1 visa and once I completed the 3 years I went through and did a new visa rather than renewing it.

I don't recall signing a contract but the communication was all through email with regards to having to pay back the lawyer fees of $4500 which was the original fee.

I had to pay $1000 ontop of this as a express processing as my boss was not happy with the time frames. He took that money from my end of year bonus.

I think I have the application letters as a digital file so I should look through that and see if there was anything in there to state that I have to pay it back but the only time I agreed to the terms of paying it back was through an email conversation as I did not really have a choice with this.

I appreciate all your help

I just read through the contract that was given for th visa process and all it states is my salary and the visa duration (3years) it does not state that I have to pay back the cost. Like I said in the last message that was just said in an email which I then had to agree too so I could stay in the USA basically

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You admit that you would ahve signed anything in order to remain in the US. In the future, have all employment contracts reviewed by an attorney and explained to you BEFORE you sign. If you do not like the terms, you will need to renegotiate or go home.

Yes I agree with what your saying about the terms I accepted. My question is though I agreed that in an email and I did not sign anything legally that states I would have to pay him back. It was an ultimatum rather than a agreement which is very typical of my boss which is why I want to change companies.

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Quoting UK2312

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My question is though I agreed that in an email and I did not sign anything legally that states I would have to pay him back.

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Are you now stating that, in relation to the visa renewal, you agreed to pay $4,500 in legal fees and costs relating to your visa if you did not remain employed for a full year?

Yes that's right but only in an email and I did not sign anything to state this , sorry for the confusion if I didn't make that clear at the start.

Then there is the question of whether the agreement would be sufficient under the laws of the U.S. state or foreign nation in which the agreement arose, with laws varying by state and nation. There's also the question of how the amount of $4,500 was reached for an O-1 visa renewal. (The filing fee for form I-539 is $290, and absent something complicated about the renewal it's quite a jump from that figure to $4,500.)

The $4500 was the fees for the lawers and the filing fee and the agreement was made in New York State.

The visa was not a renewal as that would only be for 1year, instead they reapplied for a new O1 visa for 3 years hence the $4,500 cost for the lawers and filling fees

Get yourself to an attorney will ALL of your documents and emails, etc. Please, in the future, see your own attorney before agreeing to employment restrictions.