Washington, August 25: The Trump administration has proposed an additional fee of $103,265 for H-1B visa petitions. This fee targets those filing ‘cap-subject’ H-1B applications. If implemented, the cost for companies hiring foreign professionals, particularly from India, could significantly increase.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that this fee would apply to all cap-subject H-1B petitions, including those that qualify for the ‘advanced degree exemption.’ Companies would need to pay this fee when submitting their H-1B applications, in addition to all existing fees.
However, this proposal has not yet been finalized. It is set to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, after which a 30-day period for public comments and objections will begin.
DHS estimates that this fee could generate approximately $8.8 billion annually, based on around 85,000 H-1B petitions each year. Jack Kahler, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), explained that the proposed fee aims to cover costs incurred by the federal government for the oversight, verification, and operation of legal immigration programs, which would otherwise fall on taxpayers.
According to the government, the revenue generated will help offset some operational costs of the legal immigration system. DHS noted that these expenses include reviewing immigration benefit applications, fraud detection, national security checks, government system modernization, and record management.
Under the proposed rule, this additional revenue would also fund immigration courts, visa processing, labor standards compliance, and coordination among various government agencies. The funds would be allocated to USCIS, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Justice Department’s immigration courts, the State Department, and the Labor Department’s immigration-related activities.
However, this fee will not apply to entities exempt from the H-1B cap, such as certain non-profit research organizations, government research institutions, and higher education institutions.
Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued under the program. Additionally, 20,000 extra visas are available for foreign nationals who obtain a master’s degree or higher from U.S. institutions.
DHS indicated that this fee would uniformly affect all employers, regardless of their size, including non-profit organizations. According to the department’s analysis, among the 28,649 entities that filed cap-subject H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025, 14,541 were small organizations.
DHS estimates that this rule could significantly impact approximately 11,051 small entities, which represent about 76% of the small organizations included in the analysis.
Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an organization advocating for immigration reform, labeled this proposal as a “heavy tax on American businesses.” He expressed concerns that this innovation tax on H-1B visas and the potential tax on Optional Practical Training could undermine the U.S.’s ability to attract top global talent. This could lead to job and business losses overseas, ultimately harming all employees.
Schulte also questioned whether the government has the legal authority to charge fees that exceed the processing costs of any H-1B application. He argued that the proposal appears to violate the law by suggesting fees significantly higher than the actual processing costs.
Nonetheless, DHS maintains that U.S. immigration law permits the government to set fees that cover the full costs of immigration and citizenship services. The department also stated that companies hiring employees under the H-1B program are generally more capable of paying higher fees compared to individual applicants.
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