Trump Administration Proposes More Than $100K Fee for H-1B Visas

The Trump administration has proposed a more than $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications for skilled foreign workers, a policy that the president introduced last year but had been blocked by a federal judge.

President Donald Trump first proposed payments of $100,000 as a presidential proclamation in September 2025 in an effort to prioritize American workers, and overhaul the H-1B program that allows companies and organizations to hire foreign workers for specialized, high-skill roles.

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But the Department of Homeland Security revived the proposal on Monday, submitting it online in the Federal Register to be officially published on Tuesday, when a 30-day public-comment period will commence. And the administration is now proposing $103,265 for all new H-1B visa petitions.

The White House declined to comment and referred POLITICO to a statement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a DHS department, that said the payments would support “immigration programs that otherwise must be funded by taxpayers,” according to USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler.

The White House has also said the fee would help curb misuse of the H-1B program, accusing U.S. employers of undercutting American workers with lower-paid foreign labor.

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