The United States Department of Homeland Security has proposed making a $103,265 fee for H-1B work visa applications permanent. The proposal was published in the US Federal Register on Monday and is open to public comment for 30 days before DHS can decide whether to finalise and implement it.
The proposed charge would replace a temporary $100,000 fee imposed by President Donald Trump last year. That measure was blocked by court rulings, and the temporary proclamation is due to expire in September.
What the proposal would change
The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers trained in specialty fields, including roles in technology, education and research. It provides 65,000 visas annually, plus 20,000 additional visas for workers with advanced degrees; approvals generally last three to six years.
The proposed fee would be a dramatic increase from the programme’s typical costs of about $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the application. DHS has also separately added fees of up to $4,500 for applications to extend an H-1B worker’s stay or transfer an employee based in another country to the United States.
Why the fee remains unsettled
The proposed rule is not yet final. After the 30-day comment period, DHS could finalise it and put it into practice, potentially replacing the temporary measure with a permanent charge.
The legality of the fee is already being contested. A federal judge ruled in June that the charge was illegal and barred the administration from collecting it. A Boston-based appeals court is reviewing that decision, while another court is considering whether a Washington, DC, judge properly rejected a challenge brought by a major business group.
Employers and workers face a disputed programme
Court filings cited by the administration indicate that the higher cost discouraged H-1B requests. As of February 15, 70 employers had made 85 payments of the $100,000 fee, according to an administration filing in March.
Employers, business groups, Democratic-led states, unions and other organisations are challenging the fee. They argue that presidential authority to restrict entry does not override the law establishing the H-1B programme and that DHS cannot impose fees or revenue-raising measures without congressional authorisation. The administration says the charge is not a traditional tax and that courts have limited authority to question the president’s power to restrict entry.
The programme is also at the centre of a broader policy dispute. Trump and other critics say companies use H-1B visas to replace US workers with cheaper foreign labour, while business groups and companies say the visas help address shortages of qualified US workers and enable recruitment of highly skilled talent. Employers registered for about 344,000 H-1B visas last year, more than 25 percent fewer than in 2024 and fewer than half the 794,000 sought in 2023, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
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