The US has expanded the scope of a visa charge that would considerably elevate immigration prices for giant employers, with the USD 4,000 cost for H-1B petitions and USD 4,500 charge for L-1 petitions now set to use to sure visa extension filings from September 9.The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) mentioned the revised rule will cowl employers that meet the next standards:
- Have not less than 50 workers within the US
- Have greater than 50 per cent of their US workforce on H-1B or L-1 visas
For employers assembly these circumstances, the charge will now apply not solely to preliminary H-1B and L-1 petitions and sure change-of-employer petitions, but in addition to qualifying extension-of-stay petitions for present workers.
Price scope widened
Earlier, the Sep 11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Price usually utilized to preliminary H-1B and L-1 petitions and sure circumstances involving a change of employer. Routine extension petitions filed by the identical employer have been usually exempt from this explicit charge.DHS mentioned the brand new interpretation corrects its earlier studying of the legislation and requires lined employers to pay the biometric charge for all qualifying extension-of-status petitions. Amended petitions that don’t search an extension of the employee’s authorised keep will proceed to be exempt.The charge itself has not elevated. Employers pays USD 4,000 for every qualifying H-1B petition and USD 4,500 for every L-1 submitting.DHS estimates the expanded collections may generate about USD 157.3 million yearly, whereas separate estimates cited within the rule put extra collections at USD 37.9 million in fiscal 2026 and USD 40 million in fiscal 2027.The income is used to assist the US Customs and Border Safety’s biometric entry-exit system, which makes use of applied sciences together with facial comparability to trace and confirm overseas nationals getting into and leaving the nation.
Indian IT corporations face greater prices
The change may have a disproportionate affect on main Indian IT providers and consulting corporations, which make use of giant numbers of Indian professionals within the US on H-1B and L-1 visas.For corporations managing 1000’s of such staff, the charge may now turn into a recurring value when eligible workers search extensions with the identical employerDHS knowledge cited within the rule reveals that about 27 per cent of H-1B filings by lined employers incurred the biometric charge between fiscal years 2018 and 2025.Underneath the expanded interpretation, the division estimates that round 75 per cent of their H-1B petitions would have been topic to the cost.The upper recurring value may immediate corporations to reassess the economics of retaining overseas staff within the US, notably these dealing with a number of visa extensions.For Indian professionals, who kind a big share of the US H-1B workforce and infrequently face prolonged employment-based inexperienced card backlogs, the upper employer prices may affect choices on retaining staff on long-term US assignments.
