‘Nothing changes yet’: Immigration lawyer explains new $103,265 H-1B fee rule is not final; there will be litigation
The Donald Trump administration dropped another H-1B bombshell Monday as it tweaked the $100,000 H-1B fee and issued a draft rule increasing the fee to $103,265. The increase is not the main issue of the new proposal; in the new proposal, every H-1B petition will have to pay this fee, while the earlier $100K was meant for only those who needed to undergo consular processing. This means that the earlier fee was not applicable to those who were already in the US and got selected in the H-1B lottery. But the new proposal says everyone will have to pay the new fee if they are picked by the lottery.Immigration attorney Emily Neumann said it is part of the playbook which believes in throwing enough things at the wall so that something might stick. But this would not stick, Neumann said, explaining that if it becomes final, there will be litigation.
$100k H-1B visa fee
In September 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order bringing in a $100K fee on H-1B visas. The companies were supposed to pay it for every petition they file. Several lawsuits were filed against the fee and it was vacated by the court.As things stand now, for H-1Bs who will join the US workforce from October 1, FY 2027, the companies did not have to pay the fee as courts had blocked the fee. On June 8, 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that the $100,000 fee requirement was an unlawful tax. : On July 24, 2026, the First Circuit Court of Appeals formally denied the federal government’s request to resume collecting the fee while the appeal proceeds.
$103,265 H-1B visa fee
On August 24, the Department of Homeland Security proposed an increased fee with an expansion of scope. All H-1B workers subject to the annual statutory cap, including those with master’s degrees, will come under the new fee. Those who studied in the US, those who already worked in the US would also not be spared from the fee.Neumann said that this time they are using a different statutory authority. “Same number. New wrapper. Same playbook. Throw enough things at the wall to restrict legal immigration and eventually something might stick (this won’t). For now, it is only a proposal. Nothing changes yet. And it would apply only to new H-1Bs selected in next year’s cap lottery. There will be a comment period. If it becomes final, there will be litigation,” Neumann said.
