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New $103,265 H-1B Fee
The Trump administration proposed a $103,265 fee for H-1B visas in a regulation posted Monday, months after a federal judge voided the US government’s previous attempt to require a $100,000 application fee.
“add a $103,265 fee for H-1B visas”
CNN reported that the proposed rule would go toward “recovering” the costs of running the immigration system and would encourage companies to hire American workers and pay them more.
The proposal would be added to all petitions for H-1B workers subject to an annual statutory cap, including those with master’s degrees, and it would apply to cap-subject petitions while excluding cap-exempt filings.
Reuters said the Department of Homeland Security posted the rule in the Federal Register on Monday to make the $103,265 fee permanent, and it could be finalized by the end of the year.
The fee is set against an H-1B program limited to 85,000 visa slots each year by a statutory cap, with another 20,000 reserved for advance degree holders, and the rule is not final yet.
Court Fight and Comment
The earlier $100,000 fee was blocked after a Boston-based judge ruled in June that the president lacked authority to impose the charge, which CNN said Sorokin viewed as a tax.
CNN quoted Sorokin writing, “The President had no power or delegated authority to impose a tax on H-1B petitions,” as the administration appealed and the process could take months before the new rule is made official.
Reuters said the temporary fee increase expires in September, one year after it was issued, while the proposed rule could be finalized by the end of the year.
CNN reported that the public has 30 days to submit comments in response to the proposed regulation, and it described the rule as not final.
The Department of Homeland Security’s notice in the Federal Register would make the $103,265 fee permanent, while the Boston-based appeals court reviews the June ruling and another court considers whether a judge properly rejected a challenge by a major business group.
Who Pays, Who Fights
The Trump administration argued the fee is intended to recover costs across the federal government to adjudicate, vet, and support lawful immigration programs, and Bloomberg Law News quoted USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler saying, “The proposed H‑1B fee is intended to recover the costs incurred across the federal government.”
“The proposed H‑1B fee is intended to recover the costs incurred across the federal government”
Bloomberg Law News also reported that DHS projects fee payments for each cap-subject worker would generate $8.8 billion annually, and it said US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review would be allocated two-thirds of revenue generated by the fee.
The US Chamber of Commerce led legal challenges and Bloomberg Law News quoted Neil Bradley warning the proposal “will make it cost-prohibitive for even more U.S. employers—especially the thousands of start-ups and small and midsize businesses who rely on H-1Bs—to utilize the program.”
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, and it described the debate over whether the program is abused by replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor or needed to address a lack of qualified American workers.
Reuters added that lawsuits challenging the fee could be amended once the rule is finalized, and it said the fee is being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Democratic-led states, and a coalition of unions and employers.