Trump Extends H-1B Visa Fee Implementation by One Year
Mian Nadeem | September 19, 2026
Immigration experts warn that court rulings under review in Boston and other states could deal a setback to the Trump administration.
Background
Under a previous order by the Trump administration, US employers seeking to hire foreign skilled workers can pay a fee of $100,000 under the H-1B visa program to obtain permission for technology experts and specialists in other fields to work in the United States for several years.
The US president has now extended the administrative order for another year. According to a US magazine, Trump wants to permanently raise the visa fee from the current range of $2,000 to $5,000 to at least $100,000.
However, this effort is facing legal challenges.
Legal Challenges
A court based in Boston is reviewing a ruling issued by a Federal judge in June declaring the additional fee imposed by the Trump administration illegal and barring the government from collecting it. Another court is also examining whether a judge was correct in rejecting a request by the US Chamber of Commerce challenging the fee.
The US Chamber of Commerce is the country’s largest business lobbying group.
Extending the Fee
Trump’s initial administrative order increasing the fee, issued for the first time in September 2025, was due to expire this month. The order did not apply to visas issued to foreign nationals already in the United States on student visas, who constitute a large share of new H-1B visa recipients. Renewals of existing visas were also exempt from the additional fee.
Arguments for and Against
Although the program has faced criticism that some companies use the visas to hire foreign workers at lower wages instead of US citizens, business groups and companies say it helps recruit highly skilled specialists and address shortages of qualified American workers in certain industries.
Congress introduced the visa program in 1990, and it is particularly important for technology companies that recruit skilled workers from India and China. Changes in the vetting of potential visa applicants and the processing of applications have affected companies’ hiring and business expansion plans. Some major users of H-1B visas, including Google's parent company Alphabet, have taken steps to expand their operations in India.