TCS, Infosys among hardest hit as $100,000 H-1B fee slashes consular filings

Indian IT firms have been hit the most. Infosys Limited saw the steepest decline while Tata Consultancy Services followed with the second-largest drop. Other major Indian IT services firms showed the same pattern: HCL America, LTIMindtree, Tech Mahindra (the highest consular share), Wipro, UST Global and Mphasis all dropped significantly.

From September 21, 2025 through May 24, 2026, USCIS received 91.2% fewer initial consular Form I-129 H-1B petitions compared to the same stretch the year before. Consular petitions are ones filed by workers applying from outside the US, rather than people already in the country on another visa.

In a study released by DHS, USCIS looked at how employers responded to past H-1B fee increases and to this new Proclamation payment. On September 19, 2025, the President issued a Proclamation restricting entry for certain nonimmigrant workers. It required that H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025 include an extra $100,000 payment to qualify.

Overall, the data on H-1B program participation shows a sharp drop in demand since the Trump administration imposed this $100,000 entry fee for select H-1B workers.

Form I-129 petitioners that relied heavily on prospective H-1B beneficiaries requesting consular notification and admission from outside the United States in the FY 2026 cap did not take part in the registration process the same way for the FY 2027 H-1B cap selection.

Which Employers Absorbed the Hit?

The pain wasn’t spread evenly. USCIS’s firm-level data, comparing cap registrations between the FY2026 and FY2027 seasons, shows a small number of large, consular-reliant employers accounting for most of the drop.

The table below lists firms in descending order by the size of the drop in registration volume, so the companies at the top saw the steepest decreases between the two cap seasons.

Source: regulations.gov

USCIS draws out a clear pattern here. The firm-level data shows the full weight of the $100,000 H-1B fee. Companies with a consular-heavy applicant base, such as Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, and HCL, saw registrations fall by the thousands. Companies with a more domestic-based pipeline, like Microsoft and Amazon, saw comparatively small declines.

How Steep Was the Drop, Exactly?

The clearest evidence sits in a single table buried deep in the appendix. USCIS compared “initial consular” H-1B petitions, cases where the worker applies from outside the US and falls squarely within the fee’s reach, across the same 245-day stretch (September 21 to May 24) in four consecutive years.

The table below lays out initial consular Form I-129 H-1B petition volumes for that window in 2026, alongside the same period in the three previous years, to show the scale of the decline.

Source: regulations.gov

Why Didn’t the Visa Cap Stay Empty?

The FY 2027 cap season was a relatively successful exercise. On July 17, 2026, USCIS announced it had received enough petitions to fill the FY2027 cap, the standard 65,000 regular slots plus the 20,000 master’s exemption, and would not run a second lottery. Registrations were still down sharply from the year before, 211,600 versus 343,981, a 38.5% decline. But a drop of 38.5% tells a very different story from a drop of 91.2%.

The 85,000-slot cap is filled through registrations, and the vast majority of those come from people already in the United States, often on F-1 student status transitioning through OPT, who file for a change of status rather than consular processing from abroad.

A separate factor also softened the overall numbers. FY2027 was the first cap season run under a new wage-weighted lottery. This system favored higher-paid applicants and pulled in a pool where 71.5% of selected beneficiaries held US advanced degrees, up from 57% the year before.

What Happens Next With the $100,000 Fee?

The $100,000 H-1B petition fee currently faces court challenges. Alongside it, DHS has proposed a separate $103,265 fee, which could push total costs even higher for US firms hiring foreign labour on H-1B visas.

The USCIS study titled Fee Elasticity Analysis for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee for Certain H-1B Petitions Notice of Proposed Rulemaking raises the question of whether the recent market reaction is a temporary shock or indicative of a lasting change in the usage of the H-1B program by companies. USCIS is uncertain and is proposing to establish a permanent fee exceeding $103,000, indicating urgency in obtaining clarity on the situation.

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 fee structures are subject to change, and readers should consult official DHS/USCIS sources or a qualified immigration attorney before making decisions based on this content. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.