The US Department of Homeland Security on August 24, 2026, proposed a new regulatory fee of $103,265 for each H-1B visa petition subject to the annual statutory cap of 85,000 visas, covering 65,000 regular and 20,000 advanced degree slots [1, 2, 3].

This fee would replace a Trump administration-era $100,000 fee that applied only to H-1B applicants filing from outside the US; that earlier fee was struck down by a federal court in June 2026 as an unlawful tax beyond presidential authority [3, 4, 5, 6]. Unlike the prior fee, the new proposal applies to most new H-1B applicants, including those filing petitions from within the US such as students changing status [1, 2, 7].

Hospitals, universities, research institutions, and other nonprofit organizations remain exempt from the fee proposal [2, 7]. USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said the fee aims "to recover the costs incurred across the federal government to adjudicate, vet, and support lawful immigration programs that otherwise must be funded by taxpayers." [8]

The fee would fund administrative efforts across multiple departments, including adjudication, fraud detection, security vetting, and modernization of immigration systems [1, 3, 8]. Business and state opponents argue the fee would be burdensome and plan to file lawsuits if it is finalized [3, 5, 6]. Immigration attorney Emily Neumann called it "Same number. New wrapper. Same playbook. Throw enough things at the wall to restrict legal immigration and eventually something might stick (this won't). For now, it is only a proposal. Nothing changes yet. And it would apply only to new H-1Bs selected in next year’s cap lottery. There will be a comment period. If it becomes final, there will be litigation." [5]

The public has a 30-day comment period before the fee rule can be finalized and implemented [2, 7, 9, 3, 5, 8].

Key timeline events: the Trump administration first issued the $100,000 fee executive order on September 19, 2025 [3, 5, 6, 8]. On June 8, 2026, a federal judge blocked that fee as unlawful [3, 5, 6]. The government was denied a stay to resume collections on July 24, 2026 [5]. The new DHS fee proposal opened for public comment on August 24, 2026[s1-s10].