The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it wants to charge a new $103,000 fee for companies seeking to give jobs to high-skilled foreign guest workers.
The fee would apply to the H-1B program, which is heavily used by computer programming and IT firms.
Officials figured that it could raise more than $8 billion a year and the money would help fund broader immigration enforcement operations at DHS, but also at the State, Justice and Labor departments.
That’s a new wrinkle for visa fees.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the fees will also push firms to try to hire Americans before turning to foreign workers by making the U.S. worker more financially attractive.
“DHS believes that U.S. employers, if required to pay an additional $103,265 fee when filing an H-1B cap-subject petition, would be less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American worker unless the need is legitimate and they have no alternative for obtaining the specialized skills of the employee,” he said in the regulatory filing, which will be officially published on Tuesday.
And it’s not just hiring, he said. He predicted the rule could push firms to pay U.S. workers more.
The H-1B program is supposed to be a temporary visa, though many of those who come will find other ways of staying, such as through marriage or getting an employment green card.
Foreign students often use the H-1B to extend their stay beyond their school years.
That was true of Elon Musk, head of X, Tesla and SpaceX, who said he moved from a J visa, for exchange students, to an H-1B visa at some point.
First lady Melania Trump also reportedly came to the U.S. on an H-1B visa as a fashion model in the 1990s.
President Trump attempted to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B applications from abroad in a proclamation last year.
That has been put on hold by a federal district court, and the case is still pending in an appeals court.
Mr. Mullin said the new $103,265 fee is separate from Mr. Trump’s fee, but the president’s proclamation is set to expire before DHS would impose the new fee.
Some 85,000 H-1B visas are allowed each year under the law’s “cap,” and some other visas are available outside of the cap for use by universities and government and nonprofit research organizations. Those nonprofits and universities wouldn’t have to pay the fee.
DHS said it figured the other applicants — including big IT firms — are more “willing and able” to afford it.
For 2025, DHS said it received more than 456,000 H-1B visa petitions, including 106,711 that were subject to the 85,000-person cap.
The department cited a study from George Borjas, a leading labor economist, who said firms underpay H-1B workers compared to American workers by 16%.
Multiplying that by the 6-year potential term of an H-1B visa led to the $103,265 figure.
DHS said it believes at least 85,000 applications will still be filed even with the extra cost.
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