The government charge itself is modest and should be read from the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055, or paid to CBP at the port when the request is made in person. The larger figures sit around it: the state licensure application, credential evaluation, certified translations and the professional time spent getting the offer letter right.
Price the licence application, not just the border
Applying in person at a port of entry costs very little at the counter, and an employer petition on Form I-129 carries the USCIS fee, with an optional premium processing charge where speed matters; those amounts change periodically, so the published fee schedule is the only source worth quoting. What surrounds them is easy to underestimate. A state surveying board will charge for its application and often for an examination, and an evaluation of a Quebec education is a separate invoice again.
Documents that are not in English require complete certified translations. An adviser’s review of the offer letter is money well spent when the alternative is a refusal on the record. And a trip to the border made before the duties were settled is a wasted trip.
Budget for the second attempt as well as the first, because a refusal already noted is the most expensive item on this list.