The US President Donald Trump-led administration has reportedly moved to codify a more than $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, releasing a proposed regulation for the same.
The proposed fee of $103,265 fee by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been posted online in the Federal Register on Monday to be formally published on Tuesday, will kick-off a 30-day public comment period. This rule could be formalised by the end of this year, according to Reuters.
Global immigration services firm Fragomen had, last week, said the US DHS had begun the process of proposing new regulations which could, if implemented, impose new fees on H-1B and OPT programmes.
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While the H-1B is a temporary, employer-sponsored US non-immigrant visa which allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specialised fields, the OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a 12-month work authorization for international students on an F-1 visa.
How will Indians be impacted?
{{/usCountry}}While the H-1B is a temporary, employer-sponsored US non-immigrant visa which allows American companies to hire foreign workers in specialised fields, the OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a 12-month work authorization for international students on an F-1 visa.
How will Indians be impacted?
{{/usCountry}}The impact of the fee could be felt by Indians working in the US on H-1B visas. Indian nationals have historically accounted for a large share of H-1B beneficiaries, making changes to the program particularly significant for Indian professionals and their employers.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 399,402 H-1B petitions, covering both initial and continuing employment, were approved in fiscal year 2024.
The agency's data shows that 71% of approved beneficiaries were born in India, far ahead of any other country.
$100,000 H-1B fee blocked by federal judge
Trump had first imposed the over $100,000 fee – which has since been blocked by courts – last year. It was issued through a temporary proclamation and significantly raises the cost of the visas that are heavily relied on in the tech, education and research sectors.
A federal judge had, in June, ruled that the fee was illegal and blocked the Trump administration from charging the amount. A Boston appeals court too on Friday last week rejected a bid by US President Trump to halt a judge's order preventing it from imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas.
The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put on hold a lower court judge's June 8 order striking down the fee on the basis that it constituted an unlawful tax Congress never authorized.
Meanwhile, the US President's temporary proclamation imposing the fee expires in September, a year after it was issued. The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.