Proposed Fee for Cap Subject H-1 Petitions
The US Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on August 25, 2026 entitled Fee for Certain H-1 Petitions that would establish an additional fee of $103,265 on all initial H‑1B cap‑subject petitions including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption that would be paid by the employer at the time of filing. The fee would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, such as those filed by institutions of higher education, and other H-1B petitions not subject to the cap like those filed for individuals who have already been counted against the cap.
There is speculation that this new effort is an attempt to find a different avenue to collect revenue from H-1 employers now that the $100,000 H-1 fee that was imposed last fall by Executive Order has been vacated due to successful legal challenges. This is the first of several steps in the federal rule making process so it is unclear if/when a final version of this rule would be published or whether it would be subject to similar legal challenges.
Public comments on the proposal must be received on or before September 24, 2026.