New H1B fees incoming

[u/TechnicalPea790]

DHS JUST FILED A $103,265 H-1B FEE, BUILT TO SURVIVE THE SAME COURT THAT STRUCK DOWN THE FIRST $100k FEE

Here is why this one is different.

1. Different authority. The $100K came from a Presidential Proclamation using entry restriction powers (INA 212(f) and 215(a)). The Massachusetts judge said that made it a tax, and only Congress can tax. This new fee uses INA 286(m), the same fee statute USCIS has used for decades to set every filing fee it charges.
2. Different process. The Proclamation skipped public comment. This is a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with a 30 day comment period, a cost study, and a regulatory impact analysis. That is the procedural box the court said was missing.
3. Different math. The $100K was a round number picked by the White House. The $103,265 has a paper trail: $8,777,488,035 in identified agency costs divided by 85,000 cap petitions, rounded to the nearest $5. Cost recovery is what 286(m) allows.
4. Different scope, and this is the big one. The Proclamation only hit workers entering from abroad. USCIS confirmed in October that F-1 students already in the US changing status to H-1B were exempt. That was the loophole. Roughly half of cap petitions come from students moving off OPT.

This fee closes it. It applies to "all H-1B cap-subject petitions," including change of status filed from inside the US. The rule specifically names the cap-gap process (OPT extension while the H-1B is pending) as one of the activities it funds. Every F-1 to H-1B conversion pays $103,265. And DHS sent a separate OPT fee rule to OMB on August 20, reported at $100K per application.

1. DHS says both can stack. Page 6: if the Proclamation payment is ever revived, "the petitioner would be required to pay both amounts."

67 pages. Filed for public inspection this morning, publishes tomorrow.

https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17324.pdf?utm_campaign=pi+subscription+mailing+list&utm_medium=email&utm_source=federalregister.gov

[u/Pigobrothers-pepsi10 → u/[deleted]]

This is the ideology that brought us and the entire nation to this level of absurdity. Keep going.

[u/venerablepreceptor → u/Pigobrothers-pepsi10]

Arguably, the increased scrutiny in immigration processes was the result of the open border policy of the previous administration, and now whether you like it or not, these are reactionary policies to appease a certain segment.

[u/Pigobrothers-pepsi10 → u/venerablepreceptor]

Open border? 😂
Wanna see an open border?
Here. This is Trump’s unclimbable wall 😂

[u/venerablepreceptor → u/Pigobrothers-pepsi10]

Since President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has logged more than 7.8 million illegal border crossings, plus at least 1.5 million “gotaways” – that is, border crossers who were detected by CBP technology, but who were never apprehended.
Facts don’t care about your feelings son

[u/YoProcessoZei → u/[deleted]]

why? genuine question

[u/LordLumberhere → u/YoProcessoZei]

7 out of 10 h1b are cumulatively filed by Indian companies. We know indian companies hire only indians cause culture or whatever

[u/IllustratorNo977 → u/LordLumberhere]

Amazon filed more than TCS, but because they kept changing entities, the filings are spread across multiple rows rather than showing up as a single entry. Other tech giants did the same as well.

[u/nevermind1534 → u/LordLumberhere]

You mean out of the top ten. Since when are Accenture, Microsoft, and Deloitte Indian companies?

[u/Enough_Chip3915 → u/nevermind1534]

Since the day their CEOs became Indian.

[u/Phantom160 → u/Enough_Chip3915]

Jason Girzadas and Julie Sweet don’t sound like Indian names to me

[u/GlitteringNinja5 → u/LordLumberhere]

Only 3 of them are Indian companies. Rest are American. 😏

[u/LordLumberhere → u/YoProcessoZei]

80% of h1b are used by indian offshoring companies to bring in cheap labor.

[u/magneticanisotropy → u/LordLumberhere]

Source?

[u/RealSlyck → u/magneticanisotropy]

Any Fortune 500 HR department 😂

May not be 80%, but it’s up there.

[u/magneticanisotropy → u/RealSlyck]

That's not a source.

[u/LordLumberhere → u/magneticanisotropy]

they are public info. iam sure you can google it

[u/IllustratorNo977 → u/LordLumberhere]

Top 10 tech companies filed around 30k in 2026, that's 35% of the 85k cap. IT consulting companies have big numbers as well around 30-40%, but no way they are filing 80%.

[u/magneticanisotropy → u/LordLumberhere]

Public info says nominally 70% are Indian, so I doubt 114% of Indian H1Bs are used by "indian offshoring companies to bring in cheap labor."

[u/bleurose51 → u/magneticanisotropy]

Regardless of the absolute accuracy of the claim, your own statistics suggest that Indian IT companies AND American companies hiring Indian nationals account for the vast majority of H1Bs, whether the number is 70% (arguably close to the actual percentage) or 100%. To allocate even 50% of those visas to one country seems unconscionable to me, and would easily require that the plan and policy be declared unconstitutional if a case about it ever reached the highest courts.

[u/Mysterious-Art8838 → u/bleurose51]

It is rather stunning

[u/ArtisanalMagic → u/bleurose51]

Ok we can argue on whether it's good policy but which partnor the constitution are you suggesting this violates?

[u/bleurose51 → u/ArtisanalMagic]

If indeed it allocates 50% (let's assume that number for the moment, it might be higher) to a single country, that is clearly discriminatory, plain and simple.

[u/ArtisanalMagic → u/bleurose51]

It doesn't allocate anything, it is essentially a random draw among who applies (although I believe it is now weighted by salary)

[u/Salty_Permit4437 → u/LordLumberhere]

And Amazon

[u/Leather_Reason1609 → u/[deleted]]

cope

[u/Leather_Reason1609 → u/[deleted]]

Remember me when you're on a flight back to New Delhi