Is it permissable for for H-1B employers to deduct expenses associated with the filing from the employee's earnings?

Most large national employers, as well as employers in the IT and healthcare industry, contract directly with law firms to provide the immigration work associated with hiring foreign workers. On the other hand, it is common for smaller employer to have the employee pay for the petition fee, attorney's fees, and any additional costs. While INS has indicated that they will address this issue in the future, we are unaware of any legislative or regulatory prohibition to having the H-1B employee bear the burden of attorneys fees, INS filing fees, and costs such as couriers, etc. THAT BEING SAID...

We DO know that an employer CANNOT require the alien to pay the user fee (a.k.a. scholarship fee) or part of the user fee or reimburse the employer for payment of the user fee [8 United States Code § 1182(n)(2)C)(vi)(II)].

Finally, H-1B professionals, remember: just because you are paying the attorney's fees, the attorney is ethically obligated to represent the EMPLOYER'S interests, in the event of a conflict. By paying the attorney to file the case, you are paying him or her to act on behalf of the employer, who controls the petition process. (As an analogy, it is like a husband paying for the independent attorney representing his wife in the divorce, albeit usually a bit less tense!) Any good immigration attorney will endeavor to work with both the employer and employee to facilitate the process, but in the event of a problem, the attorney is legally and ethically bound to the employer. Yet another example: you are hired by Company X and pay everything associated with the filing except the $1000 scholarship fee, which is paid by X. You get approved and, two weeks later, the company calls the attorney and says "we don't like this guy, cancel the H". The attorney has no choice but to cancel the "H"!

The moral of story: the underlying quality of the employer-employee relationship and maintaining the employer's interest in assisting you is the most important thing.