Trump Eyes Higher Costs For H-1B Extensions; Indian Professionals Could Be Hit Hard

The move is expected to have a significant impact on Indian professionals, who accounted for the majority of H-1B visa extensions approved in fiscal year 2025.

Large technology companies and IT services firms are expected to be among the most affected by the proposal.

Source : X (Twitter)

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Trump administration proposes expanding H-1B, L-1 visa fees to extensions.
• Employers, especially tech, face higher costs for H-1B renewals.
• DHS intends to fund biometrics, generating $157.3 million annually.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is moving to tighten the H-1B visa regime by expanding an additional visa fee to cover extensions of existing H-1B and L-1 visas, a change that could significantly raise costs for employers seeking to retain foreign workers.

At present, the additional fee applies only to new H-1B and L-1 visa petitions and change-of-employer filings. If the proposal is implemented, employers would also have to pay the fee when applying to extend the stay of existing H-1B and L-1 employees.

The move is expected to have a significant impact on Indian professionals, who accounted for the majority of H-1B visa extensions approved in fiscal year 2025.

Proposal Advances Towards Final Rule

The development comes weeks after a US federal appeals court declined to pause a lower court order that struck down the Trump administration's decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

The proposal, officially titled a Notice of Proposed Rule-making, was first published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Customs and Border Protection Agency in June 2024 and later appeared in the US Federal Register.

It was subsequently listed as a pending final-rule item in the Trump administration's 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda, released around early July by DHS and other agencies. The final rule is expected to be made public in the coming weeks by the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

What The Proposal Says

According to the proposal, "The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fees for H-1B and L-1 Visas (9-11 Response Fees) are fees paid by certain employers of H-1B and L non-immigrant workers. To implement Public Law 114-113, DHS is amending and clarifying the regulations to specify that the 9-11 Response Fees will apply to all H-1B and L-1 extension petitions in addition to all previously covered H-1B and L-1 petitions."

If implemented, eligible employers would have to pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee not only for new H-1B and L-1 petitions and change-of-employer filings, but also for routine extension petitions filed for existing employees.

Currently, the fee is applicable only when an eligible employer files an initial H-1B or L-1 petition or when a foreign worker changes employers.

Which Employers Will Be Affected?

The proposal targets employers with 50 or more employees in the US where at least half of the workforce holds H-1B or L-1 status.

These employers currently pay at least $4,000 for new H-1B petitions and $4,500 for new L-1 petitions. Under the proposed rule, these charges would also apply to extension-of-stay petitions filed for existing employees.

Indian Professionals Could Bear The Biggest Impact

The proposed change is expected to have the greatest effect on employers that rely heavily on Indian professionals.

According to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 406,348 H-1B petitions were approved in FY2025. Of these, 291,542, or nearly 72%, were for continuing employment.

Indian nationals accounted for 226,359 of those approvals, representing 77.6% of all H-1B extension approvals.

As a result, employers with large Indian workforces, particularly in the technology sector, could face significantly higher costs to retain employees if the proposal is implemented.

The rule would also increase costs for multinational companies renewing L-1 visas, which are used to transfer executives, managers and employees with specialised knowledge from overseas offices to the United States.

Tech Giants Among Those Likely To Be Hit

Large technology companies and IT services firms are expected to be among the most affected by the proposal.

According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), Amazon recorded the highest number of approved H-1B petitions for continuing employment in fiscal 2025 with 14,532 approvals. It was followed by Tata Consultancy Services (5,293), Microsoft (4,863), Meta (4,740), Apple (4,610) and Google (4,509).

NFAP noted that these figures represent approved petitions rather than individual employees, as an H-1B worker may receive multiple approvals in a year because of transfers or amended filings.

Why DHS Wants The Change

The proposal revives a policy that DHS finalised in 2020 but never implemented after it was blocked in court.

According to DHS, the current interpretation allows many covered employers to avoid paying the additional fee when workers remain with the same employer, despite Congress intending the fee to apply more broadly to extension-of-stay petitions.

The department said expanding the fee would better align with congressional intent while helping finance the US biometric entry-exit system, which uses facial recognition and other biometric technologies to verify travellers entering and leaving the country.

DHS estimates that the proposal would generate an additional $157.3 million annually while continuing to apply only to employers with at least 50 US employees, more than half of whom hold H-1B or L-1 visas.

If finalised, the rule would add another financial burden for large employers that depend on skilled foreign workers, particularly in the technology sector, where visa renewals account for the majority of H-1B approvals.