The Department of Homeland Security proposed making a $103,265 fee for many new H-1B visas permanent after a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s temporary $100,000 charge, setting up another legal and political fight over a program widely used by technology, education and research employers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The Trump administration is seeking to permanently impose a fee exceeding $100,000 on many new H-1B visas, moving to preserve a major overhaul of the high-skilled foreign worker program even as federal courts continue reviewing challenges to an earlier version of the policy.
The Department of Homeland Security released a proposed regulation Monday that would establish a $103,265 fee for affected H-1B applications.
The rule appeared in the Federal Register and could be finalized by the end of the year.
President Donald Trump first imposed a temporary fee of approximately $100,000 last year, dramatically increasing the cost of bringing certain foreign professionals into the United States through a visa program heavily used by technology companies, universities, research institutions and other employers seeking workers in specialized fields.
Before Trump’s action, H-1B visa-related fees generally ranged between approximately $2,000 and $5,000.
The temporary policy is scheduled to expire in September, one year after it was issued. The new DHS rule would replace that temporary measure with a permanent regulatory framework.
The administration’s effort comes after a federal judge ruled in June that the $100,000 fee was unlawful and prohibited the government from collecting it.
That ruling is now under review by a Boston-based federal appeals court.
A separate court is also considering whether another judge properly rejected a challenge brought by a major business organization.
The proposed regulation could create an additional front in the litigation once it becomes final.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Democratic-led states and a coalition of unions and employers are among those challenging the administration’s H-1B fee policy. Existing lawsuits could be amended to target the new regulation after it is finalized.
The H-1B program allows American employers to hire foreign workers for jobs requiring specialized knowledge or professional training.
The federal government makes 65,000 H-1B visas available annually through the regular allocation, with another 20,000 reserved for foreign workers who have earned advanced degrees.
Approved workers can generally remain in the United States under H-1B status for periods totaling three to six years.
The administration’s proposed $103,265 fee would not apply to every H-1B recipient.
Foreign nationals already living in the United States on student visas would be exempt, according to the proposal. Those applicants make up a substantial share of people receiving new H-1B status.
The higher fee also would not apply to renewals for workers who already hold H-1B visas.
The policy therefore focuses primarily on certain new foreign workers seeking entry into the United States rather than all participants in the program.
Trump has long criticized the H-1B system, arguing that some employers use it to obtain lower-cost foreign labor rather than hire qualified Americans.
Other critics of the program have similarly alleged that companies can use H-1B workers to replace American employees or suppress wages in certain occupations.
Businesses that depend on the program reject that characterization.
Industry groups and individual companies have argued that H-1B visas allow American employers to fill positions for which they cannot find enough qualified U.S. workers and help companies compete internationally for highly skilled talent.
The dispute has made the program a recurring battleground between advocates of tighter immigration and labor protections and employers seeking greater access to specialized foreign workers.
Trump relied on presidential authority contained in immigration law when imposing the temporary fee, invoking provisions allowing a president to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals deemed detrimental to U.S. interests.
Courts are now considering whether that authority permitted the administration to impose such a large financial requirement without going through the ordinary regulatory process.
Approximately 70 employers had paid the $100,000 fee on 85 visa applications as of late February, according to filings submitted in the litigation.
The relatively small number reflected the policy’s limited period of operation and the ongoing legal challenges surrounding it.
By issuing a formal DHS regulation, the administration is attempting to place the policy on a more permanent legal footing before the temporary fee expires.
If finalized, the $103,265 charge would represent a dramatic increase over the traditional cost of obtaining an H-1B visa for covered foreign workers and could substantially alter how employers decide whether to recruit applicants from overseas.
The rule would also ensure that the debate over H-1B visas continues beyond the expiration of Trump’s original order, with courts, business groups, states and labor organizations likely to scrutinize whether the administration has the legal authority to make such a large fee a permanent feature of the program.
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