LEADERSHIPUS Proposes $103,265 H-1B Visa Fee for High-Skilled Work

$103,265 Per Worker: US Moves to Make Massive H-1B Fee Permanent

The US Department of Homeland Security has proposed a regulation to make permanent a $103,265 fee on new H-1B visas for specialty foreign workers. Posted online in the Federal Register, the proposed rule opens a 30-day public comment window and could be finalized by the end of 2026. The action seeks to solidify an emergency policy first established under a presidential proclamation in September 2025, which is set to expire next month.

Cost Impact on Sponsoring Companies

The proposed fee fundamentally reshapes the economics of hiring international talent, directly affecting US companies, technology providers, universities, and research institutes. Standard H-1B filing fees historically ranged between $2,000 and $5,000 per worker. Under the proposed structure, employers would face a massive financial obligation for each newly hired employee under the program’s annual statutory limits, currently set at 65,000 general visas and 20,000 visas reserved for advanced degree holders.

Demand for the specialty visas has already dropped significantly under the heightened fee environment. Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows employers registered for roughly 344,000 H-1B visas last year. That represents a decline of over 25 percent compared to 2024 and less than half of the 794,000 registrations submitted in 2023. Court filings indicate that as of late February, roughly 70 employers had paid the previous $100,000 fee across 85 visa applications.

Regulatory Deadlines and Legal Challenges

Because this rule is undergoing formal administrative rulemaking, affected entities have an immediate timeline to respond before the policy becomes final.

1. Submit formal written feedback through the Federal Register during the official 30-day public comment window.
2. Review long-term international staffing budgets and pending petition pipelines ahead of potential finalization by the end of the year.
3. Monitor federal court proceedings challenging the regulation. A federal judge blocked the temporary fee in June, ruling it illegal. That decision is currently under review by a Boston-based appeals court, alongside separate litigation led by the US Chamber of Commerce, state attorneys general, and labor unions.