For employers
Your EOR visa is refused: which money comes back?
What three visa providers that work with employers say in their own published terms. Read 11 October 2026. Quoted as written.
The question
What happens to what you paid.
You hired someone abroad through an EOR (employer of record: a firm that legally employs the person on your company’s behalf), or paid a visa firm or law firm to sponsor them. The visa is refused. What happens to what you paid?
We read the published terms of 12 visa providers that work with employers. Three of them answer the question, and they answer it three different ways. Their words are below, with the page, the clause and the date we read it.
First, split the money
A visa bill has three parts.
The government’s fee
Paid to the immigration authority when the application is filed.
Called non-refundable in every set of terms we read that mentions it.
The provider’s fee
What the EOR, law firm or visa firm charges for the work.
Depends on the provider’s terms.
The extras
Translations, expert letters, evidence, fast-track processing.
Third-party costs are called non-refundable in the Deel and Jobbatical terms quoted below.
In the terms we read, only one part changes from provider to provider: their own fee.
The government's fee
Gone, whatever happens.
“Government fees, USCIS filing fees, premium processing fees, and any third-party costs are non-refundable.”
“Government fees are non-refundable regardless of outcome.”
“Government fees paid to the authority are non-refundable and are outside our control.”
Every provider in our set of 12 that said anything about refunding the government’s fee called it non-refundable.
The provider's fee
Three providers, three different answers.
Swedworks · Swedish work permits
Pay only if the permit is granted
“our service fee is invoiced only after the work permit is granted by Migrationsverket”
Migrationsverket is the Swedish migration agency. The terms add: “Pay-on-success is typically structured around employer-paid engagements”.
The catch, from its pricing page:
“A 20% premium is added to the standard Sweden work permit cost to reflect the risk we assume.”
Swedworks is a Swedish work-permit firm, not an EOR.
Deel · US O-1 offer, 2026
Its fee back if the petition is denied
“The guarantee covers Deel's service and professional fee only.”
Refund only for “a decision by USCIS on the merits of the Form I-129 petition” (section 3). An O-1 is a US visa for people of extraordinary ability.
The offer covers cases created 1 July to 31 December 2026. Its terms add:
“limited to O-1 petitions filed through Deel in the United States”
“Deel may modify or withdraw the offer at any time”
Jobbatical · terms for people who pay directly
No refund in those terms
“A rejection or delay by such authorities does not constitute a failure of Service by Jobbatical and does not entitle you to a refund of Service Fees, third-party expenses, or expense management fees.”
That clause is in its terms for individuals. We did not find a statement on refusal in its employer terms. Its pricing page says:
“We review the refusal, advise on whether to appeal or refile, and confirm the cost of the next step before doing anything.”
Read the conditions
Even a refund promise has a narrow door.
Deel’s O-1 offer pays only for a denial on the merits. Its terms list what does not count. In our wording:
- Not coveredNo reply to a request for more evidence
- Not coveredWithdrawing the petition
- Not coveredRejection on procedural or filing grounds
- Not coveredVisa refused at the embassy, after approval
- Not coveredRe-filing, appeals, motions to reopen
- Not coveredInaccurate information supplied
Two of these entries, quoted exactly from section 3 of the terms:
“Consular visa refusal at a U.S. embassy or consulate, which is a separate stage”
“Re-filing, appeals, and motions to reopen or reconsider are not covered.”
Swedworks refunds a refusal only when the cause is its own mistake:
“Refusal caused by an error on our part: you choose to (1) get a full refund of our service fee …”
Which raises a question to put to any provider: who decides whose error it was?
If the rules change
Two sets of terms name a rule change as a reason nothing comes back.
“Refusal not caused by us (for example the applicant's or employer's circumstances, a change in law or practice, or information that proves inaccurate): the service fee remains payable in full.”
“The offer excludes outcomes caused by changes in law, policy, or agency practice, and by government processing delays or shutdowns.”
Swedworks says the fee stays payable. Deel says its refund offer does not apply.
0 of 12
None of the 12 providers whose public terms we read commits to anything if the rules change after you pay. The 12 are our own choice, not a survey.
Before you sign
Three questions to put in writing.
- 1
If the visa is refused, which parts of what I pay come back, and within how many days?
Provider fee, government fee and extras, one by one.
- 2
Who decides whether a refusal was your error or my information?
That decision often sets whether anything comes back.
- 3
If the rules change after I pay, is that a reason you keep the fee?
In two of the sets of terms we read, a rule change is a reason the fee stays payable or the refund offer does not apply.
The full list of fifteen is on the 15 questions to ask before you sign.
Holding a visa quote from an EOR or a law firm?
Send us the fee lines as plain text — no documents. We send back what the quote leaves out and three questions to send your provider.
Free. Facts and questions only, not legal advice.
Email us the fee linesSources
Every figure and quote, as published.
- Deel, O-1 visa money-back offer terms (no page date; read 11 October 2026)
- Swedworks, Terms and Conditions (last updated 5 October 2026; read 11 October 2026)
- Swedworks, Sweden work permit pricing (captured 1 October 2026; read 11 October 2026)
- Jobbatical, Terms and Conditions for individuals (last update May 2026; read 11 October 2026)
- Jobbatical, Pricing (no page date; read 11 October 2026)
All pages read 11 October 2026. Quoted as written.
More for employers
- Three things to get in writing before you pay for a work visaPublic US university fee lists show three habits: separate lines for lawyer and government, a price per case type, and extra work priced or flagged up front.Read
- Before you pay for a visa: 15 questions, and what a good answer looks likeFifteen questions for a visa provider, each with a clear answer, a warning sign, the written rule for registered advisers, and what sellers publish.Read