Trump Administration Proposes New $103,265 Fee for H-1B Visas

The Trump administration proposed a new $103,265 fee for employers filing cap-subject H-1B petitions, less than three months after a federal judge struck down an earlier $100,000 H-1B payment requirement.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted the proposed rule for public inspection on Monday, with publication in the Federal Register scheduled for Tuesday. Vice President JD Vance backed the proposal, stating on X, "If an American corporation needs workers, it should hire and train Americans." The H-1B visa allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, such as tech and finance.

It would not apply to cap-exempt petitions, such as those for foreign workers employed by nonprofit or governmental research organizations or educational institutions. The payment would be in addition to existing fees. DHS projects the annual revenue collected from these petitions to be about $8.8 billion, which would support immigration-related activities across several federal agencies, including US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the Justice Department's immigration courts, the State Department, and the Labor Department.

Last September, the administration announced a $100,000 fee, which a federal judge in the US District Court for Massachusetts, Leo Sorokin, ruled unlawful in June, calling it a disguised tax. The government appealed, but an appellate court declined to stay Sorokin’s ruling. The administration is now pursuing a different legal approach through formal rule-making, framing the new fee as a cost-recovery measure rather than an entry restriction. The temporary fee increase from last year expires in September. There will be a 30-day public comments window before any rule can take effect.