Biopharmas Rethink Hiring as H-1B Program Faces $100,000 Fee in Presidential Proclamation

Biopharma employers are narrowing recruitment to workers already authorized to work in the United States as the Trump administration extends a $100,000 fee requirement for certain H-1B petitions. The requirement, established by a presidential proclamation, now runs through Sept. 21, 2027.

The payment covers certain petitions filed from 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 21, 2025. Its reach depends on the worker’s location and the petition being filed.

Court rulings have altered how the requirement is being enforced. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated agency guidance on June 8, 2026, in State of California v. Mullin, 1:25-cv-13829. The First Circuit denied the government’s request to pause that order on July 24.

The Department of Homeland Security said it “strongly disagrees” with the ruling and filed a motion to stay pending appeal. It said it would comply with the court order while considering next steps, but would still seek the payment if the order is lifted.

Dave Bowers, managing director and global head of life sciences at search firm EPM Scientific, described the hiring shift bluntly: “The fee effectively shut the door on hiring talent from overseas.”

Biopharma recruiters are concentrating on workers already cleared to work

Bowers said U.S. hiring teams are focusing on candidates who can work now, including people transferring H-1B status between employers, U.S. graduates, citizens and green card holders. That shift hits fields where recruiters have relied on international talent.

“Whereas before, we would look at international communities and candidates based outside of the U.S., there is a laser focus on those that are authorized to work in the U.S. today,” Bowers said.

He pointed to computational biology, AI in drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, process development and biostatistics. “These are often talent pools that have been international in their makeup,” he said, leaving clients with fewer candidates to consider.

Audrea Golding, a partner at Fragomen, said companies weighed the potential payment when the lottery opened earlier this year. Some did not enter candidates because they believed a worker abroad might trigger the charge.

“I think that was a big lesson from this year was that the companies who made the decision not to put people into the lottery because of the concern of the $100,000 fee ultimately lost the ability to bring people in that they otherwise could have had for their companies because of the legal injunction,” Golding said.

Golding expects some companies to use the lottery next year after the court action. She and Bowers said startups and small to medium-sized biotechs face the greatest difficulty absorbing the cost.

Life sciences accounted for 1.9%, or 7,393, of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 53% sought visas for initial employment. The figures describe the program’s reach in the sector, not how many jobs the payment has displaced.

Other industry leaders have described the pressure on smaller employers. Maggie O’Toole, CEO of Cambridge biotech incubator LabCentral, said the additional hiring cost is substantial for early-stage companies and “slows down” scientific innovation. Some of its startups have struggled to fill roles and have considered overseas partnerships or hiring foreign workers as consultants.

Sara Fraim, CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, said technology companies had considered opening offices abroad. She said, “There’s absolutely nothing positive about it,” and added, “There’s just not enough” skilled, smart American-born workers. Mike Haven of Goldman and Partners Immigration Law said his clients were not entering candidates in the lottery unless they were already in the country on another visa.

Maria Kallmeyer, an immigration and mobility practice partner at Quarles, called the payment unreasonable compared with prior H-1B costs of a few thousand dollars. Sandra Feist, founding attorney at Feist Law & Advocacy, said a biomedical employer she works with had sponsored fewer H-1B employees amid continuing policy changes. Bryan Blair, vice president of life sciences at GQR, said sponsorship was difficult even before the new cost and predicted some sponsored work could move to lower-fee countries.

The payment depends on the worker’s location and petition

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance draws distinctions among petition types and a beneficiary’s status:

The agency’s H-1B cap-season guidance describes the annual selection framework. Congress set the regular cap at 65,000, with another 20,000 places for people with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution.

Up to 6,800 visas are reserved each fiscal year for the H-1B1 category under U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore trade agreements. Unused visas in that group become available for the next year’s regular cap. The overall allocation is commonly described as 85,000.

USCIS said in May that properly submitted registrations decreased from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to 211,600 in fiscal year 2027, a 38.5% decline. Those figures show a smaller registration pool; they do not establish why registrations fell.

Starting in fiscal year 2027, the agency uses weighted selection when registrations require a lottery. A unique beneficiary receives four entries at wage level IV, three at level III, two at level II and one at level I, based generally on the highest wage level the offered pay meets for the occupation and work area. The system gives more entries to higher wage levels, while preserving an entry at every level.

U.S. institutions of higher education qualify for cap exemptions. Employers in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands may also qualify if they file before Dec. 31, 2029.

DHS is considering a separate charge for cap-subject petitions

DHS has proposed a distinct $103,265 charge for each cap-subject petition. It is not the same payment established by the proclamation.

Bo Cooper, a Fragomen attorney in Washington, D.C., said the proposed amount would be nearly 30 times higher than current filing fees for most petitions. Hector Chichoni of Greenspoon Marder said companies could reserve sponsorship for specialized professionals whose skills are difficult to replace.

Mira Mdivani of Mdivani Corporate Immigration Law Firm said the proposal would hit small Midwest businesses especially hard when they lack qualified U.S. applicants. Leon Rodriguez of Seyfarth described an H-1B petition as an employer’s request for a worker in a specialty occupation, including high-level positions in finance, technology and health care.

Attorney Yova Borovska of Buchanan said the proposal’s exclusions include cap-exempt employers, certain work performed at cap-exempt organizations, extensions or employer changes for people already holding cap-obtained H-1B status, and concurrent work with cap-exempt organizations. Certain physicians granted J-1 waivers through a government agency or USCIS would also fall outside the proposal. Cap-exempt employers include institutions of higher education, affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations.

A separate final rule affects some employers’ biometric and entry-exit fees. DHS issued it Aug. 10, 2026, and it took effect Sept. 9. It covers employers with 50 or more U.S. workers when more than 50 percent hold H-1B or L-1A/L-1B status. It applies to covered H-1B and L-1 petitions, but not amended petitions that do not extend authorized status.

Employers face separate fee and filing deadlines this fall

USCIS published a new Form I-129 edition dated 09/09/26. Beginning Nov. 9, only that edition will be accepted; the 02/27/26 version is accepted for submissions made before then and rejected on or after that date.

The agency also changed the mailing location for the form on Oct. 7. A 30-day grace period accepts forms sent to a previous location if they are postmarked on or before Nov. 9.

The agency’s specialty-occupation guidance defines the category as work requiring specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree in a directly related specialty or equivalent. The fields named include engineering, mathematics, medicine and health, business specialties, accounting, law and the arts.

The next filing cutoff is Nov. 9, when USCIS will stop accepting the earlier Form I-129 edition.