The Trump administration is moving to permanently impose a more than $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, even after a federal court blocked the charge earlier this year. The proposal would affect the specialty-occupation visa widely used by U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in fields such as science, technology, engineering, education and research.
The Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 24 published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would charge $103,265 for new H-1B applications. The rule would go through a 30-day public comment period, and the administration is aiming to finalize it by the end of the year.
Trump first imposed a $100,000 fee on some new H-1B visas through a presidential proclamation last September, saying the order would last one year and directing DHS to make the policy permanent. A federal court ruled in June that the fee was unlawful and blocked the government from collecting it, but the administration is now pressing ahead with a new regulation as legal fights continue in Boston and Washington, D.C.
The proposed fee would be far higher than the costs employers have typically paid to file H-1B petitions, which have generally run about $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the filing type and employer size. If adopted, the new charge would represent a dramatic increase for companies and foreign workers seeking to use the program.
