US plans new fees for H-1B visa renewals; Indians likely to be hit hard

The administration of US President Donald Trump is making the H-1B regime tougher by expanding an additional visa fee for extending existing visas. Till now, the fee had to be paid only for new H-1B and L-1 visas. This could sharply increase costs for companies seeking to retain exiting foreign workers in the US on visas like the H-1B visa, and hit Indian professionals who accounted for a majority of all H-1B renewals in 2025.

This comes after a US federal appeals court last month refused to pause a lower court order that struck down the Trump administration's decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

The detailed proposal (officially known as a Notice of Proposed Rule-making) was first published by the Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection Agency in June 2024. It was published in the US Federal Register.

The proposal later appeared as a pending final-rule item in the Trump administration’s 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda (released around early July by DHS and other agencies), with a final rule expected in the coming weeks. The final rule will be made public by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the US government.

"The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fees for H-1B and L-1 Visas (9-11 Response Fees) are fees paid by certain employers of H-1B and L non-immigrant workers. To implement Public Law 114-113, DHS is amending and clarifying the regulations to specify that the 9-11 Response Fees will apply to all H-1B and L-1 extension petitions in addition to all previously covered H-1B and L-1 petitions," the rule item read.

If implemented, eligible employers would pay the "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee" not only for new H-1B and L-1 petitions and change of employer-filings, but also when seeking routine extensions of stay for existing employees.

Currently, the fee applies only when an eligible employer files for an initial H-1B of L-1 petition, or when a foreign worker changes employers. Under the proposed rule, the fee would also become payable whenever the same employers seek to extend the stay of an existing H-1B or L-1 worker.

The proposal to expand the ambit of the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee targets employers with 50 or more employees in the US where at least half of the employed workforce holds H-1B and L-1 status. These employers currently shell out at least 4,000 dollars for new H-1B petitions and 4,500 dollars for new L-1 petitions. The proposal would extend these charges to all extension-of-stay petitions filed by these employers,

INDIANS ACCOUNT FOR A MAJORITY OF H-1B VISA EXTENSIONS

The proposed change is expected to have the greatest impact on employers that rely heavily on Indian professionals, who account for the vast majority of H-1B extension approvals.

According to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency approved 406,348 H-1B petitions in FY2025, of which 291,542 (nearly 72%) were for continuing employment. Indians accounted for 226,359 of those approvals, or 77.6% of all H-1B extensions.

As a result, employers with large Indian workforces, particularly in the technology sector, would face significantly higher costs to retain these employees if the proposed extension of the additional fee to H-1B and L-1 renewal petitions comes into effect.

The proposal would also increase costs for multinational companies extending L-1 visas, which are used to transfer executives, managers and employees with specialised knowledge from overseas offices to the US.

LARGE IT FIRMS TO BE AMONG THE HARDEST HIT

Large technology companies and IT services firms are expected to be among the hardest hit by the proposed extension of the additional fee to H-1B and L-1 renewal petitions.

According to the Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), Amazon had the highest number of approved H-1B petitions for continuing employment in fiscal 2025 with 14,532 approvals, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (5,293), Microsoft (4,863), Meta (4,740), Apple (4,610) and Google (4,509). NFAP notes that these figures represent approved petitions rather than unique employees, as an H-1B worker may receive multiple approvals in a year because of transfers or amended filings.

The proposal revives a policy that DHS finalised in 2020 but never implemented after it was blocked in court. DHS argues that the current interpretation allows many covered employers to avoid paying the additional fee when employees simply remain with the same company, even though Congress intended the fee to apply more broadly to extension-of-stay petitions.

According to DHS, expanding the fee would better align with congressional intent while helping fund the US biometric entry-exit system, which uses facial recognition and other biometric technologies to verify travellers entering and leaving the country. The department estimates the proposal would generate an additional $157.3 million annually while continuing to apply only to employers with at least 50 US employees, more than half of whom hold H-1B or L-1 visas.

If finalised, the rule would add another financial burden for large employers that depend on skilled foreign workers, particularly in the technology sector, where visa renewals account for the majority of H-1B approvals.

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