How much dose it cost for a program to sponsor H1b visa for resident/fellow?

[donaldtang]

I've checked the websites of many fellowship programs and notice only a small proportion of them sponsor H1b visa for clinical fellows.
I think there are two reasons for that;
1. There is a processing fee charged by american government for H1b visa
2. If the fellow is not an american citizen, the program will not get the research fund from the government.
But how much will the program lose in total if they get a foreign citizen that need H1b as compared with an american citizen?
And I think if the visa processing fee is not a big number, I can offer to pay for it.
Thanks for any information!

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[NotAProgDirector]

There are many reasons why programs might not offer H1b's. The major issues are: 1) cost, 2) hassle, 3) delays in getting visas, 4) GME office only sponsors J visa.

The cost of an H visa is not insubstantial. Including lawyer's fees, it's often around $4000. The legality of the applicant paying for the visa costs is questionable, so even if you're willing to pay it, programs may not be willing to accept. If a program doesn't sponsor H's, you offering to pay isn't going to change that.

There is no such thing as transferring an H. Your new fellowship program will need to pay for an entirely new H visa (although it is much less hassle to get a second H from your first H). But the costs are the same, I believe.

 

[Psychiatrized]

According to my GME documents - Processing time for initial expedited applications is 3-4 months. The premium processing comes with an extra fee and my hospital requires that the program use premium processing. The visa cannot be applied for until a state license is obtained which furthers the delay. Think maybe 5-6 months total after your acceptance and medical school graduation. The cost is as aPD mentioned and based on the documents I am looking at can only be paid by the sponsoring facility.

It is costly and the chances of starting off cycle are high.

 

[corviz]

The cost can vary and $4000 is usually the max. If your program is part of a larger university (like mine) where they routinely sponsor H-1 for faculty/researchers/staff, they will have a streamlined process. In my institution, it only costs the program ~$1500 (I assume that they have an ongoing, larger contract with the law firm.
By law, the employee is not allowed to pay for it. I would just ask each of your potential institutions how much it will cost them. They can just call up their HR dept for a quick answer. Many programs might say "no" simply because they have never done it and don't know how to. Onus is on you to push and help them realize that this happens more frequently than most programs realize.