Hiring a new H-1B worker could soon come with an additional six-figure federal charge.
The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a $103,265 fee for every cap-subject H-1B petition, including petitions filed under the advanced-degree exemption. The new charge would be paid when the petition is filed and would come on top of all other applicable government fees.
The proposal was released for public inspection Monday, August 24, and is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on August 25. It is not yet final and would be subject to a 30-day public-comment period.
The exact amount and scope appear in the DHS notice of proposed rulemaking. Reuters independently reported the proposal Monday.
Who would have to pay the proposed fee?
The additional fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual numerical cap. That includes the regular allocation of 65,000 visas and the separate exemption covering up to 20,000 people with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
It would not apply to every H-1B filing. The proposal specifically excludes cap-exempt petitions, such as certain filings by universities and nonprofit research organizations. It also focuses on new cap-subject petitions rather than applying universally to all renewals and transfers.
DHS says the charge would be separate from existing Form I-129 filing fees and other required payments. The proposal also states that an employer subject to a separate presidential-proclamation payment could be required to pay both, although enforcement of the administration’s earlier $100,000 proclamation-based charge was blocked in court.
Why exactly $103,265?
DHS says the fee is designed to recover costs incurred across the federal immigration system, including work performed by DHS, the Justice Department, State Department and Labor Department.
The agency projects that 85,000 cap-subject petitions would pay the fee each year. Multiplying that volume by $103,265 produces projected annual revenue of approximately $8.78 billion.
The department also argues that the price could make employers less likely to choose an H-1B worker over a comparably qualified American applicant. Business groups and immigration advocates have previously countered that steep visa costs can make it harder to fill specialized jobs, particularly in technology, health care, education and research.
Small employers could feel the biggest impact
DHS acknowledges that the proposal would have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Its analysis identified 28,649 unique cap-subject petitioners in fiscal 2025. Of those, 14,541—or about 51%—were classified as small entities, while the agency lacked enough data to classify another 5,350.
The fee would apply uniformly regardless of employer size or nonprofit status when a petition is cap-subject. That means a qualifying small business could face the same additional $103,265 charge as a major corporation.
A new route after the courts intervened
The administration previously tried to impose a $100,000 H-1B payment through a presidential proclamation. A federal judge struck down the implementing policy in June, concluding that the executive branch had exceeded its authority, and a federal appeals court later declined to pause that ruling. The administration has continued defending the policy.
The new proposal takes a different route: formal agency rulemaking. After publication, DHS must accept public comments and consider them before issuing any final rule. The amount, scope or implementation date could still change—or the proposal could face another legal challenge.
For now, employers are not being billed under this proposed regulation. But the document signals an aggressive new attempt to transform the cost of competing for an H-1B visa from thousands of dollars into more than $100,000 per petition.
