The Department of Homeland Security has proposed a sweeping new $103,265 fee on every H-1B cap-subject petition filed — including those under the advanced degree (master's cap) exemption. If finalized, this fee would stack on top of every other H-1B fee already required, potentially pushing total filing costs well above $100,000 per petition.

Key Points

  • What: DHS proposes a new $103,265 fee on all H-1B cap-subject petitions, added on top of all existing fees
  • Who: Employers (petitioners) sponsoring H-1B workers through the annual lottery, including those using the advanced degree exemption
  • When: Still a proposed rule; public comments due by September 24, 2026
  • Impact: Could dramatically raise the cost of hiring H-1B workers, potentially chilling sponsorship — especially at smaller companies

Why DHS Is Proposing This

USCIS is almost entirely fee-funded — in FY 2025, fees covered about 95% of its $7.4 billion budget. DHS says the immigration system carries significant costs across multiple agencies: not just USCIS, but also CBP, ICE, the State Department, the Justice Department's immigration courts (EOIR), and the Department of Labor.

Rather than spread new cost recovery broadly across all immigration applicants, DHS chose to target H-1B cap-subject petitioners specifically. The reasoning: employers filing these petitions are already obligated to pay competitive wages, so they have more ability to absorb the extra cost compared to, say, an individual family-based green card applicant.

The $103,265 figure was calculated by dividing $8.77 billion in total costs to be recovered by a projected filing volume of 85,000 petitions per year.

What's Changing — And What Isn't

This new fee would apply only to cap-subject H-1B petitions — the ones that go through the annual lottery. It would not apply to:

  • Cap-exempt H-1B petitions (e.g., universities, nonprofits affiliated with universities, certain research institutions)
  • H-1B extensions or amendments for workers already holding H-1B status

The fee would be a separate, standalone charge on top of the current USCIS filing fee, the ACWIA training fee, the fraud prevention fee, and any premium processing fee. It would be payable at the time of filing.

Notably, this proposed fee is separate from the $100,000 payment required by Presidential Proclamation 10973 (which was vacated by a federal court in June 2026 and is under appeal). DHS notes that if both were in effect simultaneously, petitioners would owe both amounts.

The Real-World Stakes

For H-1B workers and the F-1 students counting on employer sponsorship after OPT, this proposal matters a lot. A six-figure fee per petition could cause employers — especially startups and mid-size companies — to reconsider sponsoring international workers at all. Larger corporations with high-volume H-1B hiring would face cumulative costs in the tens of millions annually.

For workers already in H-1B status seeking renewals or amendments, there is no new fee proposed here. The impact is concentrated at the lottery stage.

What You Should Do

This is a proposed rule — nothing changes until a final rule is published. But the comment period is short.

  • Employers and HR teams: Assess how this fee would affect your hiring plans and consider submitting a formal comment.
  • H-1B workers and F-1 students eyeing sponsorship: Watch this closely. If finalized, it could affect which employers are willing to sponsor you through the lottery.
  • Anyone who wants their voice heard: Submit comments at regulations.gov using Docket No. USCIS-2026-0298 before September 24, 2026. Comments must be in English and reference specific sections of the rule to be most effective.

Sign up for docket alerts at regulations.gov to be notified when a final rule is published.