Alaska Lawmakers Urge Trump Administration to Waive $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

(ALASKA, UNITED STATES) — Alaska lawmakers and state education officials pressed the Trump administration on Wednesday to waive a new $100,000 H-1B visa fee they say will block school districts from recruiting international teachers, especially in rural communities.

The push centers on a one-time supplemental charge required for certain new H-1B petitions, a cost Alaska officials call an “insurmountable” barrier as districts line up staffing for the next school year.

Rep. Alyse Galvin, sponsor of a legislative resolution urging federal action, told lawmakers the new charge would hit hardest where vacancies already run deep. “Our H-1B teachers are very important to us. any new ones coming in will be having to face that cost [$100,000]. this is insurmountable.”

State officials and district leaders argue the fee lands at the worst point in the hiring cycle, when schools are trying to lock in contracts and process visa paperwork for teachers coming from abroad. They say the change threatens continuity in classrooms that already struggle to keep staff year to year.

Alaska currently employs approximately 500 international educators on H-1B and J-1 visas, according to state officials. In some western Alaska districts, international hires make up 60% of the total teaching staff.

Lawmakers and education leaders say the state’s geography and small labor pool make it difficult to recruit certified teachers for remote communities, and they argue international hires fill persistent vacancies rather than displacing U.S. workers.

The new fee traces back to a presidential proclamation President Trump signed in September 2025 titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.” In the document, Trump argued the visa program has harmed U.S. workers and should be constrained.

“The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor. I therefore find that the unrestricted entry. would be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” the proclamation states.

USCIS later updated its H-1B Specialty Occupations guidance to require proof of a $100,000 payment through pay.gov with all new petitions for workers currently outside the U.S. The supplemental fee does not apply to renewals, extensions, or “change of status” for individuals already in the U.S., such as F-1 students.

That distinction has become central to Alaska’s argument. Districts say many international teachers already working in Alaska can remain through renewal filings, but the pipeline of new recruits from abroad could slow sharply because the fee attaches to new petitions for workers outside the United States.

Education leaders say Alaska’s dependence on international teachers is driven by chronic shortages. At the start of the 2025-2026 school year, over 5,000 students lacked a permanent teacher, according to Alaska lawmakers.

Federal officials have defended the policy as part of a broader shift in how the government manages H-1B. In a December 2025 press release tied to a new weighted selection process, USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said, “As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to H-1B reform, we will continue to demand more from both employers and aliens so as not to undercut American workers and to put America first.”

DHS has also confirmed a potential exemption pathway. The agency has said exemptions are “extraordinarily rare,” but the Secretary of Homeland Security can grant one if the worker’s presence meets a national interest standard.

Alaska officials say that standard, along with the prospect of case-by-case determinations, makes the exemption process difficult to plan around for districts that must budget months in advance and sign contracts to keep schools running.

The Alaska House Joint Resolution 39, introduced in February 2026, urges the federal government to waive the fee for educators. Lawmakers have framed the request as a narrow, school-specific carveout aimed at staffing classrooms, not a broader attempt to rewrite federal immigration policy.

DEED also took its case directly to Washington. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development submitted a formal letter in February 2026 requesting a waiver, directing it to the U.S. Secretary of State and DHS and citing “high turnover in remote districts” and Alaska’s unique recruitment constraints.

District leaders have warned that, without relief, the federal charge could force schools to choose between leaving positions unfilled or stripping money from other services. They argue the cost is particularly difficult to absorb in rural districts that already face high transportation expenses and limited housing.

In Anchorage, officials point to a $90 million deficit as evidence the district cannot take on an additional $100,000 per teacher cost for new hires arriving from abroad. Rural districts, including Kodiak Island Borough, have warned they may have to leave classrooms empty if forced to absorb the fee.

Lawmakers say the staffing pressure is not evenly distributed across subjects. They warn that cuts or unfilled positions could fall hardest on specialized instruction that is difficult to recruit for in remote communities, including math, science, and special education.

The pressure also differs by a teacher’s immigration status. District officials say teachers already in Alaska on H-1B visas may avoid the new payment when they renew, but schools that rely on bringing in new cohorts of experienced teachers from abroad face a higher barrier because new petitions for workers outside the U.S. trigger the charge.

Those new hires, Alaska officials say, often come from countries like the Philippines and pursue long-term placement through the H-1B program. Districts say that pipeline helps stabilize staffing in communities where turnover can be high and local recruitment yields few candidates.

State leaders have tried to position the waiver request as consistent with the stated federal aim of protecting U.S. workers, arguing that in many remote areas there is no pool of local applicants to protect. They say vacancies persist even after repeated recruitment drives and incentives.

The federal policy, however, is grounded in a broader critique of the H-1B system that the Trump administration has emphasized since the proclamation. The proclamation’s language describes the program as being used to replace U.S. workers, and administration officials have tied new requirements to a commitment to “H-1B reform.”

Alaska’s waiver push has also taken on urgency because the fee applies as districts file petitions for workers who have not yet entered the country. District administrators say that timing forces them to confront the cost at the moment they are trying to finalize staffing, rather than after a teacher is already in place.

Education leaders say the result could be earlier, more cautious hiring, with districts reluctant to make offers if they cannot predict whether an exemption will come through. In some cases, they say, hiring could stall while schools wait for answers, potentially leaving classrooms staffed by rotating substitutes.

The legislative resolution and DEED letter reflect a coordinated strategy by Alaska lawmakers and the state education agency to persuade federal officials that the national interest includes staffing public schools in remote communities. Lawmakers have described international educators as essential to maintaining basic instructional services across wide geographic areas.

For families and students, district leaders say, the issue is not simply headcount but stability. They warn that losing access to experienced teachers in specialized subjects would widen gaps between urban and rural schools and make it harder for students in smaller communities to keep pace.

The waiver effort also underscores how a policy aimed at reshaping the national labor market can land differently in regions with distinct recruitment realities. Alaska officials say that when international teachers comprise 60% of the teaching staff in some western Alaska districts, sudden cost shifts can quickly become staffing shocks.

For now, Alaska officials are waiting for federal action, either through a waiver for educators and schools or further clarification on exemption eligibility and documentation. Districts say they need clear direction soon to plan staffing and budgets for the coming school year.

Readers can review federal requirements and updates on the USCIS H-1B Specialty Occupations page, and they can read the proclamation text on the White House presidential actions page. The Alaska Legislature’s materials for the waiver resolution are posted on the Alaska Legislature page for HJR 39.

Galvin, urging the federal government to consider Alaska’s staffing realities, told lawmakers that the state’s recruitment challenge is immediate and practical, not theoretical, and that without relief the $100, 000 H-1B visa fee could shut down a key pipeline for rural classrooms.