The Trump administration is proposing a significant increase in fees for H-1B visas, with a new regulation set to introduce a $103,265 fee for most new applications. This comes after a previous attempt to impose a $100,000 fee was struck down by courts. The proposed rule aims to use the generated revenue, estimated at $8.8 billion annually, to offset costs across various immigration agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ($3 billion), federal immigration courts ($2.96 billion), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ($1.05 billion).
This proposed fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual 85,000-visa cap, including the 20,000 visas reserved for workers with advanced degrees from U.S. universities. Critics, including tech companies and immigration lawyers, argue that this fee is essentially an illegal tax that bypasses Congress and would significantly increase the cost and complexity of hiring skilled foreign workers. They warn it could diminish the United States' competitive edge in research and tech industries.
The H-1B program, established in 1990, provides 65,000 visas for skilled foreign workers annually, with an additional 20,000 for advanced degree holders. Companies like Amazon, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Apple, and Microsoft are among the top users of this program. The administration's rationale for the fee includes making employers less likely to hire H-1B workers over American counterparts, citing research suggesting H-1B workers are paid about 15 percent less. However, previous rulings against similar fees highlighted the impact on sectors with labor shortages that rely on H-1B workers, such as healthcare and education.
The proposed regulation is open for a 30-day public comment period after its formal publication in the Federal Register. Legal experts anticipate potential lawsuits from U.S. companies if the rule is finalized, raising questions about the scope of USCIS's authority to allocate fees to multiple federal agencies involved in immigration. If both the new $103,265 fee and existing H-1B filing fees are legally implemented, an employer could face over $200,000 in charges before other sponsorship costs.
