Can you charge a fee for a job application?

It is legal, as long as you advertise it properly. Watch out though, because you can get into trouble with this several ways:

1) If you somehow imply that the fee guarantees the job, you could be sued for breach of contract (that's part of what's meant by "advertise it properly).

2) If there is no job in fact, obviously that's fraud.

3) If accept fees from people who are clearly unqualified for the job or after you've decided whom to hire, that's fraud.

4) If you hire someone that quickly fire them or terminate the position entirely, it may be concluded that the job was not bona fide or authentic--again, fraud.

5) If you accept fees from such a large number of people that it's clear that you could not have credibly considered them all for the job, that would be fraud.

As you you can see, while it is legal to charge an application fee, if there is *anything* about what you are doing that does not appear to be a completely legitimate job opportunity, it may constitute fraud.  It has to be 100% on the up and up and advertised very carefully.

In addition, while not a legal concern, consider that people who pay $50 for a job and don't get it may be very angry; if you charge enough people, statistically, there's a very good chance someone will act out, possibly violently.

Since a single lawsuit, even if  won, could cost you more than you collect, think carefully about doing something so fraught with the potential for liability or misunderstanding.