Underpaid h1b employee forced to pay application fee - legal advice?

[mimo]

I am currently paid $45,000/year as an asset management analyst at a real estate investment firm located in San Francisco. Upon hiring me last year in June, they agreed to sponsor my work visa, which was a large part of the reason I took the job. As my company has a subsidiary property management company, they wanted to increase my odds in the lottery by submitting another application for me from that company. I didn't question this move too much as it was beneficial for me.

Now, one month before the application period, they told me that they want to put me on a payment plan to pay back the cost of both work visa (around 10-12k) at a rate of $500/month. I have not seen the contract yet. I currently do not make the prevailing wage for my position, which they let me know, so they are trying to find a way to tweak my job description or title in order not to give me a raise, which is fine for me as long as I had a chance at the lottery, but on top, forcing me to pay them the cost of the application fee seems a bit insulting. However, I can not protest too much because I do not want to risk having my application pulled altogether.

I would love to have some feedback from a legal standpoint on what would be the best way for me to handle this situation.

[f22raptor]

If you want feedback from a legal standpoint, this may not be the best platform to get your answers. We provide answers based on experiences or other "fairly dependable" sources. Having said that. for filing of H1-B, employer must bear the charges. It is illegal for you to pay them for H1b fees. Also, why dont you speak to your attorney who is filing the h1b application. They may be able to guide you clearly. I don't think there can be a contract stating you will bear the H1b charges as its illegal for employee to handle them.

Good luck.