(UNITED STATES) The Trump administration is preparing to impose a new $100,000 fee on every H-1B visa application, marking one of the most sweeping price hikes in the history of the program. White House officials confirmed the move is set to be formalized through a presidential proclamation expected as early as mid-September 2025, according to reports first carried by Bloomberg. If signed as described, the new fee would apply to all H-1B filings and would take effect for the next cap season, which typically starts in the first quarter of the following year.
Under the plan, employers sponsoring H-1B workers would face a dramatic jump from today’s government costs. At present, employers pay a $215 lottery registration fee and a $780 base petition fee, along with other mandatory charges that vary by company size and circumstances. Those current costs generally range from about $1,710 to $6,460. The new $100,000 fee would sit on top of the process, fundamentally changing the economics of hiring high-skilled foreign professionals.
The White House frames the change as part of a broader effort to reshape high-skilled immigration. Officials argue the H-1B visa has been used to replace U.S. workers with lower-paid foreign labor, holding down wages and discouraging American students from entering science and engineering fields. The proclamation is also expected to direct the Department of Labor to rewrite prevailing wage rules, which set the minimum pay levels for H-1B roles. Tighter wage rules would force employers to pay more to H-1B workers, especially at higher wage levels, further raising the cost of sponsorship.
Industry groups, immigration lawyers, and many employers warn this shift could be seismic. A $100,000 fee would likely lock out small and mid-sized firms that rely on skilled hires but lack the cash reserves of tech giants, defense contractors, or well-funded health systems. Entry-level professionals and recent graduates would be at particular risk if the administration also proceeds with a wage-based allocation plan that favors the highest-paid roles. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the combined cost pressure and expected wage tiering would push many early-career engineers, data analysts, and researchers out of contention.
Policy Changes Overview
Administration officials say the goal is to reserve H-1B slots for what they call the “best and brightest,” and they link the $100,000 fee to that aim. The expected proclamation would:
- Add a new $100,000 fee to all H-1B petitions, far beyond current charges.
- Direct the Department of Labor to raise prevailing wage levels, making lower-paid roles harder to qualify.
- Move toward a wage-based selection process in place of the current random lottery, prioritizing higher-paid candidates.
- Increase workplace checks and compliance actions, including more requests for evidence and site visits by federal officers.
While major technology firms may still pursue H-1B talent, the change would reshape who can compete. A startup deciding whether to sponsor a machine learning engineer would face a six-figure fee before legal costs and higher required wages. University research labs and hospitals that depend on specialty professionals could struggle to justify sponsorship unless their budgets allow it and the roles meet higher wage thresholds.
The effects would reach beyond employers. For H-1B applicants, the fee and wage rules create a cliff: those in early-career roles may never enter the pipeline, and those who do may face longer processing times and higher denial rates. Families could be affected as well if the administration moves to revoke work authorization for H-4 spouses—a step officials signaled in the past and that advocates expect to resurface. In practical terms, a dual-career household could be reduced to a single income, complicating housing, childcare, and loan payments.
The timeline matters. Officials have signaled the proclamation is imminent, with rules poised to shape the 2026 cap season. Employers that plan hiring cycles months in advance, especially in tech and healthcare, will be forced to decide quickly whether to make room for the new fee in next year’s budgets. Immigration attorneys are already preparing potential litigation, noting that similar efforts during President Trump’s first term faced court challenges on both procedural and statutory grounds.
Impact on Employers and Workers
For employers, the plan introduces three distinct hurdles:
- Price barrier
- A $100,000 fee per H-1B petition would function as a gate, leaving only the largest or best-capitalized employers able to sponsor at scale.
- Wage elevation
- Revised prevailing wage levels would push salaries higher, limiting eligibility for many roles and shrinking the number of viable job offers.
- Process friction
- More evidence demands and site visits would slow hiring, extend time-to-fill for critical roles, and strain HR and legal teams.
For workers, the combined effect means fewer openings. Wage-based selection could shut out entry-level candidates—from chip design and robotics to biotech labs—who might otherwise grow into advanced roles over time. It also raises the risk that international graduates of U.S. universities, including those on Optional Practical Training, look to Canada 🇨🇦 or Europe instead of staying in the United States 🇺🇸. Critics warn that this talent shift would weaken research and development pipelines and reduce the number of new companies formed by immigrant founders coming out of U.S. schools.
In the last administration, H-1B denial rates climbed as high as 24% after rule changes and policy memos raised standards for proving “specialty occupation” roles. If a similar adjudication posture returns alongside the $100,000 fee, attorneys expect a spike in requests for evidence and delayed decisions. That uncertainty is hard to price into offer letters, and it risks leaving teams understaffed when projects hit key deadlines.
Supporters of the plan argue the pressure will push companies to hire and train more U.S. workers. They believe a smaller, more selective H-1B pool will raise wages and reduce the temptation to outsource. Critics counter that many employers use the H-1B visa precisely because certain advanced skills are scarce in the domestic market. They warn the rule will not create a ready local workforce overnight but will instead slow product cycles, delay clinical trials, and reduce patent filings.
Several trade groups have signaled they will challenge the fee and wage rules, and advocacy organizations are preparing impact statements from small businesses, universities, and hospitals.
Legal and Strategic Considerations
Legal experts say the path forward will likely involve a mix of executive action and rulemaking. A proclamation can set the broad terms, while agencies such as the Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services handle the technical details. That process could invite lawsuits over:
- statutory authority,
- fee-setting procedures,
- whether the new fee functions more like a tax than a service charge.
During President Trump’s first term, courts blocked or narrowed several immigration measures on similar grounds.
Employers are already gaming out scenarios:
- Scale back H-1B filings and shift headcount to global hubs such as Toronto, Vancouver, or Dublin.
- Explore alternative visas: O-1 (extraordinary ability) or L-1 (intra-company transfer).
- Note: O-1 fits a narrower talent pool; L-1 requires a multinational footprint that many startups lack.
Families are bracing as well. If work authorization for H-4 spouses is rescinded, many households will lose a second paycheck, affecting mortgage approvals, relocation decisions, and children’s schooling. Immigration lawyers advise clients to prepare new budgets, document professional achievements more fully, and keep travel plans flexible in case consular processing becomes less predictable.
Practical Steps Employers Should Consider Now
For those trying to plan through the next cap season, official resources remain essential. The USCIS H-1B cap page provides timing, definitions, and agency updates on program mechanics and policy notices. Readers can monitor the agency’s dedicated page here: USCIS H-1B Cap Season.
VisaVerge.com reports that employers should also expect stepped-up enforcement, including site visits and audits focused on wage compliance and the definition of specialty occupation.
Practical steps over the next 60–90 days will vary by company size and industry, but several themes are emerging:
- Budget now for the $100,000 fee and higher wages; decide which roles are mission-critical enough to justify the added cost.
- Start document collection early, focusing on detailed job descriptions, organizational charts, and proof that the role requires a specific degree.
- Map alternative hiring plans in case the wage-based selection makes certain roles noncompetitive under the new rules.
Important: Employers that plan hiring cycles months in advance should assess budget and headcount implications immediately. Immigration attorneys are preparing litigation strategies; administrative timelines could shift depending on legal challenges.
What to Expect Next
The coming weeks will test how far executive power can go in reshaping high-skilled immigration without new legislation. If the proclamation lands as described, expect:
- a wave of lawsuits,
- rapid responses from industry coalitions,
- close scrutiny from universities and research labs that depend on international expertise.
The stakes stretch beyond a single filing season: they touch where companies build teams, where students choose to study, and whether early-career scientists and engineers see a path to build their lives and careers in the United States.
As the proclamation’s text becomes public, employers and workers will finally see how the administration frames the legal basis for the $100,000 fee, how it structures exceptions (if any), and how soon the wage rules start to bite. Until then, planning for a leaner, costlier H-1B ecosystem is no longer theoretical—it’s the baseline many organizations are using to set next year’s hiring plans.
This Article in a Nutshell
The administration is preparing a presidential proclamation to impose a $100,000 fee on every H-1B petition, likely taking effect for the 2026 cap season. Officials frame the change as a way to reserve slots for higher-paid, more skilled workers and will pair it with higher prevailing-wage rules and a shift toward wage-based selection instead of the lottery. Industry groups, universities, and small businesses warn the fee would exclude many employers from sponsoring talent, shrink entry-level opportunities, and accelerate talent migration abroad. Expect increased RFEs, site visits, litigation over authority to set fees, and employers planning budget, documentation, and alternative hiring strategies.
