The Trump administration has proposed a new fee of approximately $100,000 to $103,265 for each H-1B visa petition [1, 2, 3].
This move represents a shift in the cost of hiring high-skilled foreign workers in the U.S. By raising the financial barrier for employers, the administration seeks to tighten the immigration system and prioritize domestic labor.
Reports emerged this week that the federal government is moving to implement the new cost structure [1, 2]. Depending on the specific filing, the proposed fee is cited as $103,265 [1, 4], while other reports list the figure as $100,000 [2] or $103,000 [3].
The proposal comes as part of a broader immigration crackdown by the administration [5]. Federal officials are seeking to impose these higher costs after a federal judge voided a previous H-1B fee structure [1, 5].
The H-1B program allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. Under the current proposal, the cost for a single petition would exceed $100,000 [6]. This is an increase over previous fee schedules used by the federal immigration system [1, 3].
Government officials have not yet detailed the exact timeline for when these fees would take effect. However, the move signals a continued effort to restrict the flow of foreign labor into the U.S. tech and professional sectors through financial deterrence.
“The Trump administration has proposed a new fee of approximately $100,000 to $103,265 for each H-1B visa petition.”
If implemented, this fee would likely shift the H-1B visa from a common tool for talent acquisition to a luxury reserved for only the highest-earning specialists or the wealthiest corporations. By making the cost of a petition expensive for small and medium-sized enterprises, the administration is using financial levers to reduce the number of foreign nationals entering the U.S. workforce.
