By Hasan Legal Admin · September 6, 2026
DHS has proposed a new $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions — separate from, and in addition to, the $100,000 payment that's still tangled up in litigation. Nothing is final yet, but the direction is unmistakable: six-figure H-1B costs are looking less like a temporary policy fight and more like where the program is headed. Here's what's actually proposed, how it differs from the fee you may already know about, and what it means for employer-sponsored hiring going forward.
DHS has proposed a new $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions — separate from, and in addition to, the $100,000 payment that's still tangled up in litigation. Nothing is final yet, but the direction is unmistakable: six-figure H-1B costs are looking less like a temporary policy fight and more like where the program is headed.
Here's what's actually proposed, how it differs from the fee you may already know about, and what it means for employer-sponsored hiring going forward.
If you've been tracking H-1B cost increases this year, it's worth being precise about which one this is. This is not the $100,000 payment tied up in court. It's a new, separate proposal — and understanding the difference matters for anyone trying to plan around either one.
| $100,000 Payment | $103,265 Fee (New Proposal) | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | September 2025 presidential proclamation | DHS proposed rule |
| Current status | Vacated by a federal court in June 2026; government appeal pending; on hold | Not yet in effect — proposed rule stage, public comment period |
| Expiration | Proclamation set to expire Sept. 21, 2026 unless extended | No expiration — would be a standing rule if finalized |
| Applies to | Certain H-1B petitions per the proclamation | All cap-subject H-1B petitions, including advanced degree exemption workers |
Nothing changes for H-1B filing fees as a direct result of this proposal today. DHS is expected to publish it in the Federal Register on August 25, 2026, opening a 30-day public comment period. DHS will review comments before deciding whether to finalize the rule — and the final amount and details could still change.
The proposed $103,265 fee would apply to cap-subject H-1B petitions — charged when an employer files the petition with USCIS, after a beneficiary has already been selected through the H-1B registration lottery. It would sit on top of existing filing costs, not replace them.
It would not apply to H-1B petitions exempt from the annual cap — including many petitions filed by institutions of higher education, affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations — nor to many extensions and changes of employer for workers already counted against a prior year's cap.
Unlike most USCIS filing fees, this one isn't sized to cover the cost of adjudicating an individual petition. DHS says the revenue would help fund immigration-related activities across several federal agencies — not just USCIS, but ICE, CBP, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Department of State, and the Department of Labor.
Boundless Immigration CEO Xiao Wang called the scope "unusual": DHS is proposing to recover costs "across the immigration system, far beyond the cost of adjudicating the H-1B petition itself." Of the roughly $8.8 billion DHS projects the fee would generate annually — from an estimated 85,000 cap-subject petitions — about $3 billion would go to USCIS and nearly $3 billion to EOIR, with the remainder split among ICE, CBP, State, and Labor.
DHS itself projects the fee would reduce H-1B cap-subject filings to roughly 85,000 annually, down from an average of about 109,000 in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The agency also estimates a significant economic impact on 11,051 small entities — about 76% of the small businesses in its analysis that filed cap-subject petitions in FY 2025.
As Wang put it: "Employers have already spent the past year grappling with the prospect of a $100,000 H-1B payment. This proposal makes clear that six-figure H-1B costs may not be temporary. For startups and smaller companies especially, that could fundamentally change who can afford to compete for global talent."
Whether this specific fee is finalized at $103,265, adjusted, or abandoned after the comment period, the pattern across both proposals points the same direction: sponsoring an H-1B worker is trending toward a cost employers plan around at the six-figure level, not a filing fee measured in the thousands.
Whether it's the $100,000 payment still tied up in court or this new $103,265 proposal, H-1B sponsorship is getting more expensive and less certain. EB-2 NIW and EB-1A are self-petitions — no employer sponsor, no lottery, and no exposure to either fee fight. We also handle O-1 petitions.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This fee is a proposed rule, not yet in effect; the final amount, scope, and effective date could change following the public comment period, or the rule could be withdrawn entirely. Verify the current status directly on the Federal Register before relying on any figure described here. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Consult a licensed immigration attorney about your specific circumstances.