What Should I Know About the H-1B Visa Fee?

On September 19, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation that is meant to restrict certain nonimmigrant workers from gaining legal entry into the United States. Namely, one of the initiatives places a hefty fee on any new H-1B visa petitions filed after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on September 21, 2025. To put it in the simplest way possible, this may have serious implications for companies that especially rely on skilled foreign workers to fill their scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical roles. So, without further ado, please follow along to find out more about the newly proposed H-1B visa fee and how one of the proficient Lancaster, PA work visa lawyers at Lupton Law LLC can help you determine whether this will affect you, your professional career, and your life in the United States directly in any way.

What should I know about the newly proposed H-1B visa fee?

Specifically, this new proclamation now imposes a $100,000 fee on current and future H-1B visa applications.

The idea behind this is to hopefully reform the H-1B visa program, all while protecting American workers. That is, with the hefty cost an employer will have to incur to employ a temporary foreign worker, they may only be inclined to hire them if they are considered the best of the best. In other words, they may only want to make this investment for highly-skilled, highly-paid positions at their company, and only if they cannot find an American worker with the same or better experience, skill, and talent to fill this open role instead.

When is this newly proposed H-1B visa fee inapplicable?

While there was some confusion surrounding this initially, it has since been clarified that this $100,000 will be a one-time fee for new H-1B visa petitions. That is, this newly proposed fee will not be applied to H-1B visa renewal petitions for foreign workers already legally working for a United States employer. Again, any H-1B visa applications submitted before September 21st, even if it is still pending with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), are in the clear.

Now, this new fee may affect large companies, primarily in the technology and healthcare industries, the most of all. This is because these employers typically seek foreign workers to fill these types of positions. For example, Amazon is known to hire from China and India due to the large talent pool and widespread education in technology.

Contrary to what you may expect, universities and non-profit companies are not automatically exempt from this application fee. However, these industries may take it upon themselves to file national interest waivers for certain positions they wish to fill. From here, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may review and decide on these waivers on a case-by-case basis.

As soon as you find yourself in potential legal trouble, you must retain representation and advisement from one of the talented Lancaster, PA work visa lawyers at Lupton Law LLC. You should not have to put up this fight alone; we are here to help you.