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The administration proposes a $103,265 tax on H-1B visa petitions to fund immigration services and encourage American hiring.

The administration announced a new proposal to impose a $103,265 fee on all H-1B visa petitions subject to the annual cap. This move follows a federal judge's rejection of a previous $100,000 fee, which was ruled an unlawful tax. To overcome this legal hurdle, the administration is now framing the new charge as a dedicated revenue mechanism to recover the costs of administering the lawful immigration system across multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. By shifting the justification from a simple restriction on high-skilled foreign workers to a cost-recovery model, the administration seeks to maintain the goal of encouraging companies to hire and train American workers. While some legal experts argue the fee remains a broad tax, the administration asserts that the H-1B cap-subject petitioners are the most willing and able to pay. The proposal includes a 30-day public comment period before the rule is finalized, with litigation expected as critics question the administration's economic assumptions regarding the impact on application volumes.

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