New US Rule To Make H-1B, L-1 Renewals Costlier For Companies
WASHINGTON, DC- The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the applicability of a $4,000 fee on H-1B petitions and a $4,500 levy on L-1 petitions to include visa extensions filed by certain employers, even when workers remain with the same company.
The final rule, issued by the US Department of Homeland Security, will take effect on September 9 and is expected to increase recurring immigration costs for companies that rely heavily on foreign professionals, including Indian-origin workers.
The rule applies to employers with at least 50 employees in the United States when more than 50 per cent of their US workforce holds H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status. These employers will now be required to pay the 9/11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee each time they file for an extension of a covered employee’s status.
Until now, the fee generally applied to petitions seeking initial employment or a change of employer, while extensions filed by the same employer for the same worker were typically exempt if the fraud-prevention fee did not apply.
“The regulatory changes correct DHS’s interpretation of statutory language to require that covered employers submit the 9-11 Biometric Fee for all extension of status petitions, regardless of whether the related fraud prevention and detection fee applies,” the US Department of Homeland Security said.
The change does not increase the fee amounts but broadens the number of petitions on which the existing charges must be paid. Covered employers will continue to pay $4,000 for each qualifying H-1B petition and $4,500 for each qualifying L-1 petition. Amended petitions that do not seek an extension of authorized status will remain exempt.
The fee must be paid by the employer, not the visa holder. The department rejected suggestions that employees be allowed to pay it themselves, stating that “the statutes and existing regulations specify that the fee is required to be paid by the employer.”
DHS documents noted that the rule could indirectly affect Indian technology professionals and other skilled workers if employers reconsider the cost of repeated visa extensions. Commenters had warned that higher expenses could discourage companies from retaining H-1B employees and disadvantage workers waiting in long employment-based green-card queues.
The department rejected these concerns, saying the fee applies only to a limited category of employers and is small compared to wages, relocation expenses and other hiring costs. It also noted that demand for H-1B visas has exceeded annual caps for more than a decade and said it does not expect the rule to reduce overall hiring.
DHS estimates the expanded fee collection will generate $37.9 million in fiscal 2026 and $40 million in fiscal 2027.
The impact of the change is significant. Between fiscal 2018 and 2025, about 27 per cent of H-1B petitions from covered employers attracted the biometric fee. Under the revised interpretation, approximately 75 per cent would have been subject to it.
DHS said its earlier interpretation of the law had been incorrect, noting that when the US Congress established the fee in 2015, it included applications for extensions, even though DHS had previously linked its collection to cases where the fraud-prevention fee applied.
“The best interpretation of that statute is that the 9-11 Biometric Fee applies to all extension of status petitions even when the Fraud Fee is not applicable,” the department said.
The fee supports the US government’s biometric entry-exit programme, which is used to verify the identity of foreign nationals entering and leaving the country. A portion of the collections is directed to a dedicated biometric account, with the remainder going to the US Treasury’s general fund.
DHS said collections had declined from $158 million in fiscal 2016 to $25.6 million in fiscal 2025, and argued that broader application of the fee is necessary to sustain biometric systems across US ports of entry. (IANS)
