The Trump administration is proposing a fee of more than $100,000 for companies looking to hire skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa program, making it significantly more expensive for American employers to bring foreign workers into the country.
The Department of Homeland Security proposed Monday that employers pay an additional $103,265 for every new H-1B petition subject to the program’s annual cap, including petitions for foreign workers who earned advanced degrees from U.S. universities. The charge would come on top of the other fees employers already pay when filing an H-1B visa.
The administration argues that employers have abused the program to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor and that the existing system does not sufficiently prioritize the most highly skilled workers. Under the proposed rule, the six-figure fee would apply to all H-1B petitions subject to the annual statutory cap, rather than primarily targeting workers seeking to enter the country from abroad. That distinction could have major consequences for American businesses. Many companies use H-1B visas to shift foreign students and workers legally present in the United States into long-term employment.
The H-1B program is capped at 85,000 new visas annually — 65,000 for the regular program and another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. Demand regularly far exceeds that number, forcing employers to compete in an annual lottery. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported it received more than 211,000 registrations for the most recent lottery.
The administration estimates that the new fee would generate approximately $8.8 billion annually. Rather than limiting the money to the cost of processing H-1B applications, DHS says the revenue would help cover broader costs associated with administering the legal immigration system, including immigration courts, immigration enforcement, visa processing, and other federal immigration operations.
The proposed rule would exempt employers whose H-1B petitions are not subject to the annual cap, including certain universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research institutions. That provides an exemption for many hospitals and universities that rely on H-1B workers to fill medical and research positions.
The proposal comes after Trump’s previous attempt to impose a $100,000 H-1B fee was struck down by a federal judge in June. Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the administration had effectively imposed an unauthorized tax without congressional approval.
The Trump administration appealed the ruling, but the First Circuit declined to pause the decision while the appeal proceeds.
The new proposal is an attempt to establish the fee through the federal regulatory process rather than through the presidential proclamation used last year. DHS is characterizing the $103,265 charge as a mechanism for recovering the federal government’s costs of administering the legal immigration system.
The proposed rule says the fee would make employers “less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American,” according to the Washington Post.
The proposal also comes as the administration considers additional restrictions on employment programs used by foreign graduates. The administration is also considering a $100,000 fee on Optional Practical Training, which allows international students to work in the United States after completing their studies.
The proposal has already drawn opposition from business and immigration groups, which argue that the H-1B program allows American companies to access specialized talent that is not always available domestically. India’s largest technology industry association, Nasscom, also urged the administration to consider the program’s role in addressing U.S. labor shortages.
But the administration is betting that making foreign labor substantially more expensive will encourage companies to hire and train Americans instead. The proposal will now enter a 30-day public-comment period after its publication in the Federal Register. It could still be altered, withdrawn, or challenged in court before taking effect.
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