An initial petition, at least one extension, and the professional cost of whatever follows the ceiling. Government charges should be confirmed on the current fee schedule. The internal cost of gathering technical evidence recurs at each filing and is usually larger than the fees.
Two filings, then a decision that also costs money
A five-year assignment ordinarily involves an initial petition and at least one extension, each requiring the technical evidence to be assembled and the assignment described. That internal effort, pulling documents out of a version control system, preparing training records and drafting a credible duty description, is the part that consistently exceeds the filing charges. Government fees should be taken from the current published schedule, since these filings can attract more than one and some depend on the employer's workforce.
Beyond the second filing sits the ceiling, and whatever is chosen there has its own cost: a managerial petition requires a subordinate structure that may need to be built, and an immigrant petition is a multi-year professional engagement. Employers who plan for two filings and nothing else usually meet the third cost at the worst possible moment, when the alternative is losing the person entirely. Hypothetical example: a prosthetics manufacturer plans to send its materials-process specialist to train the U.S.
team. The first review separates petition fees and optional processing choices from the cost of assembling translations, technical evidence, and the operating assignment. The current USCIS fee schedule settles government charges; the employer's technical records show the preparation burden.
Management should decide whether the transfer remains worthwhile after considering the limited L-1B maximum period and the cost of replacing the specialist abroad. Trouble follows when a business prices only the filing and later discovers it cannot support the specialised assignment with coherent records.