- The DHS is finalizing a rule to apply surcharges to H-1B and L-1 extensions for large employers.
- Companies with over fifty employees and a fifty percent visa workforce must pay recurring fees.
- The expansion is estimated to generate one hundred fifty-seven million dollars annually for biometric security.
The Department of Homeland Security is advancing a final rule that would apply the existing $4,000 H-1B and $4,500 L-1 surcharges to extension petitions, adding a recurring cost for certain large employers. The measure targets companies with at least 50 U.S. employees whose workforce is more than 50% H-1B or L-1 workers.
DHS first published the proposal as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in June 2024. The 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda, released in early July 2026, lists the measure as a pending final-rule item.
Free toolH-1B Cost Calculator Online
The fees support the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee system. Employers, not workers, would pay them. The rule could nevertheless affect whether companies extend existing workers’ stays.
The cost would recur. Employers that previously paid the surcharge only when a worker began employment could face it again every three years at renewal.
The regulatory agenda describes the change this way:
"The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fees for H-1B and L-1 Visas (9-11 Response Fees) are fees paid by certain employers of H-1B and L non-immigrant workers. To implement Public Law 114-113, DHS is amending and clarifying the regulations to specify that the 9-11 Response Fees will apply to all H-1B and L-1 extension petitions in addition to all previously covered H-1B and L-1 petitions."
DHS estimates the expansion would produce about $157.3 million annually for the biometric entry-exit system. The proposed reach is broad among extension filings, even though the employer test is narrow.
Renewal data puts Indian workers at the center of the cost exposure
USCIS approved 406,348 H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025. Continuing employment accounted for 291,542 approvals, or more than 71% of the total.
Indian nationals represented 226,359 of those continuing-employment approvals. That equals roughly 77.6% of the renewal group.
Those figures point to the companies most likely to feel the change first. Large technology and IT services firms with high concentrations of Indian professionals would face repeated charges when they extend qualifying workers.
The rule would not apply to every business filing an extension. A company must meet both parts of the “50-50” test: at least 50 employees in the United States and more than half of its workforce holding H-1B or L-1 status.
The filing charge belongs to the employer. A worker’s visa status does not make the worker responsible for paying it.
The renewal surcharge would arrive alongside other higher filing costs
The proposed expansion sits within a wider increase in employment-based immigration expenses.
Since April 2024, most H-1B and L-1 filings have included a $600 Asylum Program Fee. Small employers pay $300, and the fee also applies to extensions.
Premium processing also became more expensive on March 1, 2026. The fee for Form I-129 premium processing for H-1B and L-1 cases rose from $2,805 to $2,965.
Together, those charges can add to the expense of retaining a worker. The biometric fee would affect only employers meeting the 50-50 test, while the asylum charge and premium-processing amount follow their own filing rules.
The USCIS fee schedule identifies the applicable charges. USCIS also maintains its H-1B specialty-occupation information page and Form G-1055 fee schedule for filing details.
A separate $100,000 measure remains tied to litigation
The renewal proposal is separate from a $100,000 charge introduced for new H-1B petitions filed through consular processing.
A Presidential Proclamation established that fee on September 21, 2025. On June 8, 2026, a U.S. District Court vacated the guidance in State of California v. Mullin.
USCIS said in a July 28, 2026 alert that DHS disagreed with the ruling but would comply while considering its next steps. The agency also said it planned to collect the payment if the order were later lifted.
That dispute concerns new petitions. The DHS proposal discussed here concerns extension petitions for existing H-1B and L-1 workers.
Employers may reassess staffing and location decisions
The recurring surcharge could influence how companies structure their workforces. Experts cited in the regulatory discussion suggest some employers may reduce reliance on H-1B and L-1 personnel or move more work offshore to avoid crossing the 50-50 threshold.
Those decisions could affect long-term visa holders and their families. Although the company pays the fee, an employer’s willingness to extend a worker can determine whether that worker remains employed and keeps pursuing a stay in the United States.
The pressure would be greatest for firms with repeated renewals. A company paying the charge once at the start of employment would face a different cost pattern from one paying it again for continuing workers.
The proposal remains in the final-rule pipeline
The measure began in June 2024 and appeared in the July 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda as a pending final rule. Its proposed revenue estimate, eligibility test and fee amounts come from the existing regulatory framework DHS says it would expand.
The rule item would extend the fees to all covered H-1B and L-1 extension petitions. Until the final rule takes effect, employers must follow the fees and filing requirements applicable to their cases under the current USCIS schedule.
