Donald Trump · Amazon · Microsoft · Fortune Technology
The Trump administration proposes $103,000 fee for H-1B visas that DHS itself estimates would paralyze 76% of small businesses
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Mere months after a federal judge knocked down a six-figure price tag on H-1B visas, the Trump administration is taking another stab at it, proposing a $103,265 surcharge for companies looking to hire foreign workers.
Key facts
- President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in September 2025 requiring a $100,000 payment for certain H-1B workers, but it was vacated by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in June
- Divide that by the 85,000 H-1B visas available each year, and that comes out to roughly $103,265, the proposed price tag
- This time, DHS is using its fee-setting authority and moving through the traditional notice-and-comment rulemaking process, a distinction that immigration attorney Elizabeth Ricci told Fortune gives
- In its proposal, the department even estimated that the six-figure upcharge would force 11,051 small businesses (76% of the small entities it analyzed) to experience a “significant economic impact
Summary
On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security proposed charging employers the extra amount on top of existing filing costs. While DHS argues the fee is meant to encourage companies to hire more Americans over foreign workers, research on H-1B visa restrictions indicates the opposite, according to Britta Glennon, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School whose research focuses on immigration and the economy. “When multinational companies can’t access H-1B visas, they become much more likely to open a foreign affiliate abroad or expand hiring of their foreign affiliates,” Glennon told Fortune. Glennon told Fortune large companies like Amazon and Microsoft can opt to hire workers in countries like Canada, India, or China if bringing them to the U.S. becomes difficult.