The Department of Homeland Security has unveiled a proposal that would dramatically reshape the cost of hiring foreign high-skilled workers: a new $103,265 fee has been proposed for every H-1B cap-subject petition, on top of whatever employers already pay.
The notice, published in the Federal Register on August 25, 2026, and signed by the DHS Secretary, frames the fee as a way to help the government recover costs tied to running the broader immigration system — not just at USCIS, but across the Department of Justice, the State Department, and the Department of Labor as well.
A new wage-based selection process has also been put to use for the H-1B cap season 2027.
Where the money would go
According to the proposal, the fee is expected to generate roughly $8.8 billion a year, based on an assumed volume of 85,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions annually. That revenue wouldn’t stay within USCIS — the rule lays out a specific breakdown of how it would be divided among agencies: about 34 percent to USCIS, nearly 34 percent to the Justice Department’s immigration courts (EOIR), close to 12 percent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, roughly 14 percent to the Labor Department, about 5.5 percent to the State Department, and a sliver — under 1 percent — to Customs and Border Protection.
Why $103,265, specifically
The number isn’t arbitrary — DHS says it was calculated by taking a total pool of costs to be recovered ($8,777,488,035) and dividing it by the projected volume of paying petitioners (85,000), then rounding to the nearest $5 increment.
Notably, the rule points out that this new fee would stack on top of a separate $100,000 payment created by a 2025 presidential proclamation — though DHS notes that proclamation’s underlying guidance was vacated by a federal court in Massachusetts in June 2026, with the government’s appeal still pending. DHS is careful to clarify that its new fee rests on different legal authority than that proclamation and isn’t meant to replace it.
An NBER working paper by economist George Borjas in a report argued that employers are willing to pay a fee in this range, estimating that H-1B workers are typically paid about 16 percent less than comparable U.S.-born workers with similar qualifications, which the analysis says leaves room for employers to absorb the added cost.
Who’s exempt, and who isn’t
The fee would apply only to H-1B cap-subject petitions — including those eligible for the advanced-degree exemption — but not to cap-exempt petitions. That means universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations that typically file cap-exempt H-1B petitions would not be hit with the new charge.
The agency also acknowledges that the added cost is likely to shrink the pool of applicants, projecting that the number of cap-subject filings will drop from a five-year average of about 96,750 down to exactly 85,000 — essentially squeezing out anyone unwilling or unable to pay.
DHS frames this shrinkage as something of a feature rather than a flaw, suggesting in the rule that employers “would be less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American worker unless the need is legitimate,” and that the fee could have the “indirect benefit” of protecting wages and job opportunities for U.S. workers.
What happens next
The rule is a proposal, not yet final — DHS is required to accept public comments for 30 days after the notice is formally published in the Federal Register.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, immigration, or tax advice. Immigration laws and government policies are subject to frequent change without notice. Immigration rules and fees can change, so applicants and employers should verify the latest information with official US government sources or a qualified immigration attorney. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.