DHS proposes $103,265 H-1B fee for cap petitions

The U.S.

Department of Homeland Security has proposed a new $103,265 fee for employers filing H-1B petitions subject to the annual statutory cap, including petitions eligible for the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption.

If approved, the new rule proposed on Monday would apply to workers seeking to gain employment in the U.S. under the annual statutory cap.

The proposed fee aims to cover the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system, including activities carried out by the DHS and the departments of Justice, State, and Labor.

The public will have 30 days to submit comments after the proposal is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

Read Also: Trump Snapped Up SpaceX Shares 11 Days After $1.77 Trillion IPO: Here's What Else He Purchased Immigration Crackdown Intensifies This development follows a reported Trump administration consideration of charging international students $100,000 to work in the U.S. after graduating from American universities.

The proposed fee would target the OPT program, which lets international graduates work in the U.S. for 1—3 years after completing their studies.

About 419,000 foreign graduates participated in the program in 2024.

However, the proposal is not yet finalized.

This came after the federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee in June, ruling it was an unauthorized tax.

Meanwhile, the administration has considered a $100,000 bond for some green card applicants abroad as part of efforts to tighten legal immigration.

The proposed fee would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including certain petitions filed by institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations and governmental research organizations.

The annual H-1B cap remains at 85,000 visas: 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 for U.S. master’s degree holders.

Immigration Curbs Raise Stagflation Risks In April, H-1B visa applications at major tech companies, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ), Alphabet Inc. ‘s (NASDAQ: GOOG ) (NASDAQ: GOOGL ), Google, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META ), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT ) saw a sharp decline amid increased scrutiny.

Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi says President Donald Trump ’s immigration policies and other supply-side shocks are contributing to higher unemployment, slower growth and inflation.

He expects immigration policy to eventually shift but warns of near-term stagflation, with prices rising without matching output growth.

Zandi said foreign-born unemployment fell below native-born unemployment in October 2025, while rising native-born unemployment reflected weaker overall labor demand.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published editors.

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