WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is proposing a new $103,265 fee on certain H-1B petitions, a major increase that would apply primarily to employers seeking workers through the annual H-1B visa cap.
The proposal is not yet a final rule. It is a notice of proposed rulemaking, meaning the public will have an opportunity to comment before the government decides whether to adopt, change or withdraw the proposal. The Federal Register notice is scheduled for publication Aug. 25, 2026.
Under the proposal, the $103,265 charge would apply to H-1B cap-subject petitions, including petitions for workers who qualify for the U.S. advanced-degree exemption. The fee would be paid when the employer files the H-1B petition and would be in addition to other existing filing fees and required payments.
In simple terms, the rule would mainly affect employers filing for workers selected under the annual H-1B quota.
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Federal law generally limits new H-1B visas or grants of H-1B status to 65,000 each fiscal year. An additional 20,000 are available for workers who have earned a qualifying master’s degree or higher degree from a U.S. institution, bringing the commonly cited annual cap total to 85,000.
The proposed additional fee would not apply to many cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including certain petitions involving institutions of higher education, affiliated nonprofit organizations, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations. It also would not generally apply to workers who have already been counted against the cap and are filing certain extensions or job changes.
Why is DHS proposing such a large fee?
DHS says the purpose is to recover part of the federal government’s costs of administering the broader legal immigration system.
According to the proposal, the money could support immigration-benefit adjudications, fraud detection, national security screening, information technology systems, records management and coordination among federal agencies. It also could help support immigration-related activities involving U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Justice, the State Department and the Department of Labor.
The government calculated the proposed fee by dividing approximately $8.78 billion in costs it wants to recover by a projected 85,000 fee-paying H-1B petitions. That calculation produced a figure of $103,264.57, which DHS rounded to $103,265.
DHS argues that employers filing cap-subject H-1B petitions generally have a greater ability to absorb additional costs than many individual immigration applicants. The department acknowledged in the proposal, however, that the increase is significant and could lead some employers, including small businesses, to file fewer H-1B petitions.
Who would actually pay the fee?
The fee would be paid by the H-1B petitioner, usually the employer, when filing a cap-subject H-1B petition with USCIS.
It would not be a $103,265 fee charged directly to every H-1B worker already living or working in the United States. It also would not automatically apply to every H-1B extension, transfer or cap-exempt filing.
The key question is whether the petition is subject to the annual H-1B cap.
Is the $103,265 fee already in effect?
No.
The proposal is still going through the federal rulemaking process. DHS is asking for public comments, and the final rule could be changed before taking effect.
The notice says comments must be submitted through the federal rulemaking portal and must reference DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0298. The proposal provides a 30-day public comment period following publication in the Federal Register.
If the rule eventually becomes final in its current form, it would represent one of the most significant additional costs ever imposed on employers seeking new workers through the annual H-1B cap.