Trump proposes NEW eye-popping fee for H-1B visas for foreign workers amid immigration crackdown

Developed over time first seen 2 months ago

Daily Mail · 2 months ago

The Trump administration has proposed a new $103,265 fee for US employers seeking to hire foreign workers through the H-1B skilled worker visa programme, marking a further escalation of its hard-line immigration policies. Announced by the Department of Homeland Security, the charge would apply per H-1B recipient on top of existing filing fees, though cap-exempt roles such as most university positions and workers already in the US under the scheme would be excluded. If finalised, the measure could significantly reshape a programme long relied upon by businesses in fields such as research, engineering and technology to recruit specialists in areas short of qualified US applicants.

DHS estimates the fee could raise $8.78 billion a year, based on roughly 85,000 H-1B petitions annually, though only around $3 billion of that would go to USCIS itself over a decade, with the rest funding wider immigration enforcement, including an extra $1 billion for ICE, $76.2 million for CBP, and over $1 billion for immigration courts to hire some 8,400 additional judges and staff. Officials say the rule rests on different legal authority to a similar $100,000 fee Trump ordered last year, which a federal judge struck down, though the new proposal is likely to face fresh legal challenges before it can take effect.

DHS proposes $103,265 fee per H-1B foreign worker hire.
Could raise $8.78 billion annually, mostly funding immigration enforcement.
Follows a similar fee blocked by courts in 2025; legal fight expected.

New here? Start with this

The Trump administration has proposed a steep new fee, running to over $103,000, for employers who want to hire foreign professionals through the H-1B visa route, which is used to bring skilled workers such as engineers, researchers and technology specialists into the United States. The charge would be paid per hire, on top of fees that already exist, and comes as part of a broader push by the administration to tighten immigration policy. Businesses that rely on the scheme to fill specialist roles could face a significant rise in the cost of employing overseas talent.

The plan is being put forward by the Department of Homeland Security, and much of the money raised would be directed towards immigration enforcement agencies and the courts that handle immigration cases, rather than solely towards running the visa programme itself. This follows an earlier attempt by the administration to introduce a similar charge by executive order, which was blocked by a federal court, so the new proposal is being framed differently in legal terms.

The H-1B programme has long been a route for American companies, particularly in sectors such as technology and research, to recruit workers with specialised skills from abroad. Because of this, any change to its cost affects not just individual visa applicants but also the businesses and industries that depend on international recruitment, making the proposal a significant point of debate in the wider immigration policy landscape.

Both sides, in good faith

The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.

The case for

Supporters argue the fee corrects a long-standing distortion in the H-1B system, where some employers have used the programme to undercut American wages rather than to fill genuine skills shortages. By making sponsorship costly, the measure encourages firms to first exhaust the domestic talent pool and to reserve the visa for roles where a foreign specialist's value clearly exceeds the expense, while directing the proceeds towards enforcement and a chronically under-resourced immigration court system. Advocates see this as a legitimate exercise of executive authority to prioritise the wages and job security of American workers over cheaper foreign labour.

The case against

Opponents contend the fee is so large that it will deter legitimate hiring of the doctors, engineers, and researchers that hospitals, universities and technology firms genuinely cannot find domestically, ultimately harming American competitiveness and innovation rather than protecting workers. They warn that treating a skilled-worker visa programme as a funding stream for unrelated enforcement activity conflates immigration policy with revenue-raising, and that smaller firms and start-ups, unable to absorb such a cost, will be squeezed out in favour of large corporations. Many also note that a similar fee was already struck down by the courts, suggesting the policy oversteps executive authority and will face legitimate legal and economic objections.

Full account

The Trump administration has put forward a rule that would permanently impose a fee of $103,265 on employers seeking to hire skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa programme, one of the steepest cost increases ever attached to the scheme. The proposal, published by the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, would apply on top of existing filing charges for each cap-subject petition and forms part of the wider crackdown on immigration pursued by the White House. A spokesperson for US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the charge was designed to recoup costs incurred across the federal government in vetting and administering lawful immigration programmes that would otherwise fall to taxpayers.

The move effectively seeks to place on a firmer legal footing a fee that Donald Trump had already tried to introduce roughly a year ago by presidential proclamation. That earlier attempt was struck down by a federal judge in June, who ruled it amounted to an unconstitutional tax, and the temporary charge is due to lapse next month regardless. An appeals court is currently examining that ruling, while a separate case is considering whether a legal challenge brought by a business group was wrongly dismissed. By running the charge through formal rulemaking instead, the administration appears to be attempting to secure a more durable legal basis for the fee, which officials say could be finalised by the end of the year.

Under the proposal, the $103,265 levy would apply to petitions subject to the annual statutory cap — including those eligible for the advanced-degree exemption and some foreign students applying to switch into H-1B status — but not to cap-exempt roles such as most university posts, to routine extensions for existing visa holders, or to people already living in the US under the programme. Standard H-1B fees had previously run to only a few thousand dollars. The Department of Homeland Security forecasts the change would raise close to $8.8 billion a year based on around 85,000 petitions, with the money spread well beyond USCIS's own costs: sizeable sums are earmarked for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, extra funding for Customs and Border Protection's inspection and monitoring work at the border, and more than $1 billion towards immigration courts, including thousands of additional judges and support staff.

The proposal reopens a long-running dispute over the purpose of the H-1B programme, which is widely used in technology, research, education and engineering roles. Trump has argued that some employers exploit the visa to undercut American workers with cheaper foreign labour, while business groups and many companies counter that it remains essential for filling specialist positions where domestic candidates are scarce. The rule was lodged for public inspection on Monday and is due to appear in the Federal Register on Tuesday, opening a period of scrutiny before any final decision.

Where outlets differ

The two reports differ chiefly in emphasis: the first source focuses on the scale of the fee and where the resulting revenue would be distributed across enforcement agencies (ICE, CBP, immigration courts), framing the move within Trump's broader immigration crackdown.

The second source places more weight on the legal and procedural backstory — that this proposal follows, and seeks to formalise through rulemaking, an earlier proclamation-based fee that a federal judge blocked in June as an unconstitutional tax, with related litigation still ongoing in the appeals courts.

Only the second source details the standard H-1B visa cap numbers (65,000 regular plus 20,000 advanced-degree) and the modest fees ($2,000–$5,000) that applied before Trump's changes, as well as the specific timeline showing the temporary fee expiring next month.

Only the first source breaks down the projected $8.78 billion in annual revenue by recipient agency, including a $3 billion-plus share for USCIS, $1 billion for ICE and $76.2 million for CBP over a ten-year period.

More coverage

Americas Business Markets World

Read the full article at the source →