The Trump administration is proposing a new $103,265 fee on employers seeking H-1B workers through the annual visa lottery, adding a substantial cost to a program widely used by U.S. technology companies, universities and other employers to hire skilled foreign workers. The Department of Homeland Security said in a proposed rule published Monday in the Federal Register that the new fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual 85,000-visa cap, including the 20,000 visas reserved for foreign workers holding qualifying U.S. master's degrees or higher. The proposed $103,265 charge would be paid in addition to existing H-1B filing fees.
The proposal would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including many workers employed by universities and nonprofit or government research organizations. The proposed fee is distinct from a 2025 Trump executive order that imposed a $100,000 charge on certain overseas H-1B hires but was later struck down in federal court. DHS said the new $103,265 fee relies on different legal authority and that the executive order is due to expire in September unless extended.
The proposal is likely to reignite a long-running divide among Republicans over high-skilled immigration. Many MAGA-aligned critics of the H-1B program argue it allows companies to hire foreign workers at the expense of U.S. workers, suppressing wages and reducing job opportunities for American graduates. Supporters of the program, including many technology companies and business groups, counter that H-1B visas help employers fill specialized positions in fields such as engineering and software development when qualified U.S. workers are in short supply.
The proposal comes as the administration pursues other increases in immigration-related fees. DHS recently finalized a separate rule expanding a $4,000 biometric and security fee to certain H-1B extension petitions filed by qualifying large employers. The $103,265 charge is not yet in effect.
It is a proposed rule and must go through the federal regulatory process before it could become final. The notice is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on August 25. This is a developing story and will be updated.
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