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New fee codification push
President Donald Trump's administration released a proposed regulation that would make a $103,265 fee for new H-1B visas permanent after a federal judge in June ruled the $100,000 fee unlawful and halted collection efforts.
“would make a fee of $103,265 permanent”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted the draft rule in the Federal Register on Monday, and Reuters said the temporary fee increase expires in September, one year after it was issued.
Reuters reported that the proposed rule would codify an unprecedented fee of more than $100,000 on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers that has been blocked by the courts.
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with training in specialty fields and offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years, while Reuters said the fee would not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas or to renewals.
Reuters also said the proposed rule would be finalized by the end of the year, and that it would make the $103,265 fee permanent.
Courts, lawsuits, and debate
The fee is being challenged in court, with Reuters saying a Boston-based appeals court is reviewing the decision while a different court considers whether a judge properly rejected a challenge to the fee by a major business group.
Reuters reported that the lawsuits claim Trump's power to restrict entry does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa program, and that the states and groups that sued also say Homeland Security cannot impose fees, taxes or other means to generate revenue without permission from Congress.
In the same dispute, The Independent said a federal judge declared the new fee illegal in June, halting collection efforts, and that an appeals court in Boston is reviewing that decision while a separate court considers a challenge to the fee from a major business organization.
The Independent also framed the political fight by noting that Trump and other critics contend the initiative is exploited by companies replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor, while business groups and individual companies maintain the program is necessary to address domestic skilled labor shortages and attract top global talent.
Reuters added that the fee is being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Democratic-led states, and a coalition of unions and employers, and that those lawsuits could be amended to challenge the rule proposed this week once it is finalized.
Who pays and what it funds
Reuters said about 70 employers had paid the $100,000 fee on a total of 85 visa applications as of late February, and it reported that employers last year registered for about 344,000 H-1B visas, down more than 25% from 2024 and fewer than half of the 794,000 visas sought in 2023.
“would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual 85,000-visa cap”
Newsweek reported that the proposed $103,265 charge would be paid in addition to existing H-1B filing fees and would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual 85,000-visa cap, including the 20,000 visas reserved for foreign workers holding qualifying U.S. master's degrees or higher.
Newsweek also said the proposal would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including many positions at universities and nonprofit or government research institutions, while Reuters said the fee would not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas or to renewals of current visas.
On how the money would be used, Newsweek said DHS outlined how the revenue generated by the new $103,265 fee would be distributed among federal agencies, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services receiving approximately $3 billion and the Executive Office for Immigration Review receiving about $2.96 billion.
Reuters said the administration has also ordered enhanced vetting of H-1B applicants and proposed a new visa selection process that would favor higher-skilled and better-paid workers, and it noted that earlier in August DHS added fees of up to $4,500 to applications to extend the stay of H-1B workers or to transfer employees based in other countries to the United States.