A technology industry group representing companies including Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic is urging the Trump administration to withdraw a proposed $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions, arguing that the added cost could make it harder for U.S. companies to recruit specialized workers and compete globally in artificial intelligence.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Some of America’s largest technology companies are pushing back against a Trump administration proposal that would impose a new $103,265 fee on H-1B visa petitions subject to the annual cap, setting up another dispute over whether restrictions on skilled foreign workers protect American employees or weaken U.S. competitiveness.
TechNet, an industry organization whose members include Apple, Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic, submitted its opposition Thursday as the Department of Homeland Security’s public-comment period on the proposed rule came to a close, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“This proposal undermines the president’s championing of American global competitiveness,” TechNet wrote.
The organization argues that American technology companies require access to specialized international workers, particularly as competition with China intensifies in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
The Trump administration takes a different view of the H-1B system, arguing that some employers, particularly information technology staffing and outsourcing companies, have used the program to hire lower-paid foreign workers instead of similarly qualified Americans.
DHS proposed the new $103,265 charge in August. It would apply to all cap-subject H-1B petitions, including petitions qualifying for the advanced-degree exemption, and would be assessed in addition to other applicable immigration fees or payments. It would not apply to every H-1B petition, such as certain cap-exempt filings.
The H-1B program generally provides 65,000 visas annually under its regular statutory cap, along with another 20,000 slots for workers holding qualifying advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
DHS projects that collecting $103,265 on an annual volume of 85,000 cap-subject petitions could generate approximately $8.8 billion each year. The agency says the money would help recover immigration-system expenses incurred across DHS and other federal agencies, including the departments of Labor, State and Justice.
The proposed fee is separate from another $100,000 H-1B payment requirement first imposed by Trump in September 2025.
Trump extended that requirement for another year last week, restricting entry for certain H-1B workers unless their petitions are accompanied or supplemented by the $100,000 payment.
The White House said employers have made the payment for more than 700 petitions since the original policy took effect. Trump extended the restriction through September 2027.
The original payment policy has also faced a legal challenge. A federal judge in Massachusetts vacated agency guidance implementing the requirement on June 8, and the administration appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit three days later. The new $103,265 DHS proposal cites separate legal authority from the presidential proclamation and, if implemented while the other payment is legally enforceable, could require some employers to pay both.
The administration has simultaneously moved to increase scrutiny of companies seeking H-1B workers after laying off Americans.
In a Sept. 18 executive order, Trump directed federal agencies reviewing H-1B petitions, labor applications and visas to consider whether sponsoring employers had conducted layoffs within the previous year or planned layoffs affecting similarly situated U.S. workers.
The order also calls for closer coordination among the departments of State, Labor, Homeland Security, Commerce and Education and the Small Business Administration when evaluating petitions.
The administration says those measures are necessary because of what it describes as systematic abuses that have allowed employers to suppress wages, replace American employees and use the visa program for positions that do not meet its intended high-skill purpose.
According to a White House fact sheet, H-1B registrations submitted by the largest IT staffing and outsourcing companies declined 92%, from 24,946 to 2,055, following the administration’s earlier changes.
The administration also reported a nearly 97% decline in consular-processing requests between the 2025 and 2027 H-1B cap seasons and said registrations increasingly shifted toward workers offered higher wages and possessing advanced degrees. Those figures are the administration’s measurements of the policy’s effects.
Technology companies contend that broad restrictions risk affecting a very different population: highly specialized engineers, scientists and researchers for whom employers say qualified domestic candidates may be difficult to find.
That argument has become particularly prominent as the United States competes with China for leadership in AI.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly warned policymakers that a large share of the world’s AI talent is Chinese and that U.S. immigration and technology policies should take that reality into account.
Huang said in 2025 that “50% of the world’s AI researchers are Chinese” and argued that the United States should concentrate on attracting talent and expanding domestic technological capabilities. His comments were reported by Benzinga.
He later expanded on that argument, saying Chinese AI researchers are “world-class” and pointing out that researchers of Chinese origin work throughout companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind.
The competing arguments illustrate the larger dispute surrounding H-1B policy.
The White House says the program must be structured so that foreign workers supplement rather than displace the American workforce, and it argues that higher costs and tighter scrutiny will deter companies seeking inexpensive labor while preserving access for truly exceptional workers.
Technology companies argue that dramatically increasing the cost of hiring international workers could have the opposite effect, making it harder for American companies — particularly startups and smaller firms — to recruit specialized talent while competing against foreign companies operating under different immigration systems.
The proposed $103,265 fee would represent a dramatic increase over traditional H-1B filing costs and would come on top of other required fees. DHS nevertheless argues that cap-subject employers are willing and able to absorb the additional cost and that the revenue would help fund the broader lawful immigration system.
The disagreement also comes at a time when Silicon Valley’s broader relationship with the Trump administration has improved in some areas. Major technology companies have generally welcomed tax reductions, energy and infrastructure policies supporting data-center construction and a lighter regulatory approach toward artificial intelligence.
Immigration has remained a fault line.
TechNet’s filing places some of those companies directly against an immigration proposal the administration considers part of its effort to prioritize American workers.
For the administration, the declining participation of large outsourcing companies is evidence that its policies are changing incentives within the H-1B program.
For the technology industry, the question is whether the same restrictions will also discourage companies from bringing highly specialized scientists and engineers to the United States at a time when countries are competing aggressively for AI talent.
DHS accepted public comments on the $103,265 proposal through Thursday. The agency will review those submissions before deciding whether and in what form to issue a final rule.
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