The Form I-129 fee, the fraud-prevention fee, an asylum-program fee where applicable and optional premium processing, all set on Form G-1055 and payable by the petitioning employer, not the transferee.
Read the schedule, then decide whether speed is worth paying for
The petitioning U.S. affiliate pays the USCIS charges for an L-1 petition. They typically comprise the base petition fee, a fraud-prevention and detection fee, an asylum-program fee whose amount depends on the employer’s size, and, if the firm wants an adjudication within a fixed number of business days, premium processing.
The amounts are published on Form G-1055 and change periodically. The transferee should not be asked to reimburse them. Separate business costs include professional fees for the petition and for the specialized-knowledge statement, translations of French corporate records, and the salary the affiliate must actually pay, which should be consistent with a managerial role.
Because the filing date matters here, premium processing may be worth its price if the firm delays filing to complete the year and then needs a quick decision before the engagement starts. Hypothetical example: an aircraft-parts wholesaler asks the transferee to repay filing charges if the contract ends early. That request should be separated from the immigration budget before the petition is prepared.
The employer must identify the current mandatory charges and decide whether a faster adjudication changes the launch date enough to justify its price. The invoices, fee schedule, and engagement letter settle the financial plan; an oral promise about later reimbursement creates avoidable dispute.