US plans new fees for H-1B, L-1 visa renewals; Indian professionals likely to be hit hard

The Donald Trump administration is preparing to significantly tighten the H-1B visa regime by expanding an additional government fee to cover visa extension petitions, a move that could substantially increase the cost of retaining skilled foreign workers in the United States. Until now, the additional levy applied only to new H-1B and L-1 visa petitions and change-of-employer applications. Under the proposed rule, the same fee would also be imposed whenever eligible employers seek to extend the stay of existing H-1B and L-1 employees. The proposal is expected to have its biggest impact on Indian professionals, who account for the overwhelming majority of H-1B visa renewals.

Policy revived after legal setback

The proposed expansion comes weeks after a US federal appeals court declined to stay a lower court order striking down the Trump administration's earlier decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has moved ahead with another regulatory proposal that broadens the scope of the existing "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee." The proposal was first published as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in June 2024 and has since appeared in the Trump administration's 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda. The final regulation is expected to be cleared by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the coming weeks.

What the proposed rule changes

Under the existing framework, the additional fee is payable only when eligible employers file an initial H-1B or L-1 petition or recruit an employee changing employers. The proposed amendment would make the fee mandatory even when the same employer files a routine extension petition for an existing H-1B or L-1 employee.

According to the draft regulation, the change seeks to clarify that the "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee" applies to all covered H-1B and L-1 extension petitions, in addition to petitions already covered under existing rules.

Who will be affected

The proposal specifically targets employers with at least 50 employees in the United States, where more than half the workforce holds H-1B or L-1 status. Such companies currently pay an additional $4,000 for qualifying H-1B petitions and $4,500 for L-1 petitions. If the proposal becomes law, these charges will also apply every time such employers seek to renew visas for existing employees. The change is expected to increase labour costs substantially for firms that rely heavily on foreign professionals.

Indian professionals in focus

Indian nationals are likely to bear the brunt of the proposed changes because they dominate the H-1B programme. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, 406,348 H-1B petitions were approved during fiscal year 2025. Of these, 291,542—or nearly 72 per cent—were for continuing employment rather than new hiring. Indian professionals accounted for 226,359 of those approvals, representing nearly 78 per cent of all H-1B extensions. That means any increase in renewal costs will disproportionately affect employers retaining Indian workers, particularly in the technology and information technology services sectors.

Technology firms face higher bills

Large technology companies and Indian IT service providers are expected to be among those most affected. According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), Amazon received the highest number of H-1B approvals 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 notes that these figures represent approved petitions rather than individual workers, as one employee may receive multiple approvals in a single year because of transfers or amended filings. The proposal would also increase costs for multinational companies renewing L-1 visas used to transfer executives, managers and specialised professionals from overseas offices to the United States.

Government cites congressional intent

The proposal effectively revives a policy finalised by DHS in 2020 that was never implemented after being challenged in court. According to DHS, the current interpretation enables many employers to avoid paying the additional fee simply because employees remain with the same organisation. The department argues that extending the fee to renewal petitions would better reflect congressional intent while generating additional funding for the United States' biometric entry-exit programme, which relies on facial recognition and other technologies to monitor international travel. DHS estimates the proposal would generate an additional $157.3 million annually while continuing to apply only to employers meeting the workforce threshold prescribed under the law.

Implications beyond immigration

Beyond increasing visa costs, the proposal signals a broader shift in US immigration policy under the Trump administration—one that seeks to make employment-based visa programmes more restrictive and financially burdensome for companies dependent on foreign talent. For Indian IT companies, multinational corporations and thousands of highly skilled professionals already navigating an increasingly complex immigration system, the proposal could make retaining long-term talent in the United States significantly more expensive and administratively challenging.