Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Aug 10: The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the scope of a $4,000 fee on H-1B petitions and a $4,500 levy on L-1 petitions to include certain visa extension applications, even when workers continue with the same employer.
The final rule will take effect on September 9 and could increase recurring immigration costs for companies that rely heavily on foreign professionals.
The expanded fee will apply to employers with at least 50 employees in the US when more than 50 per cent of their workforce collectively holds H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status.
Such employers will have to pay the 9/11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee each time they seek an extension of a covered employee's status.
Previously, the fee generally applied to petitions seeking initial employment or a change of employer. Extensions filed by the same employer for the same worker generally did not attract the charge when the separate fraud-prevention fee was not applicable.
“The regulatory changes correct DHS's interpretation of statutory language to require that covered employers submit the 9-11 Biometric Fee for all extension of status petitions, regardless of whether the related fraud prevention and detection fee applies,” DHS said.
The rule does not increase the existing fee amounts but expands the number of petitions on which they must be paid. Covered employers will pay $4,000 for each qualifying H-1B petition and $4,500 for each qualifying L-1 petition.
Amended petitions that do not seek an extension of a worker's authorised status will remain exempt.
The fee must be paid by the employer, not the visa holder. DHS rejected suggestions that workers should be allowed to pay the charge when companies were unwilling to do so, saying existing statutes and regulations require employers to bear the cost.
The rule could indirectly affect Indian technology workers and other skilled professionals if companies reconsider the cost of repeated visa extensions. Commenters had warned that higher expenses could discourage employers from retaining H-1B workers, reduce legal immigration and disadvantage employees waiting through lengthy employment-based green-card queues.
DHS rejected those concerns, saying the fee would apply only to a limited category of employers and would remain small compared with wages, relocation expenses and other costs associated with hiring foreign professionals.
The department also noted that demand for H-1B visas has exceeded annual availability for more than a decade and said it did not expect the rule to reduce the overall number of H-1B workers hired.
DHS estimates that the expanded fee collection will generate an additional $37.9 million for the US government in fiscal 2026 and $40 million in fiscal 2027.
The impact is expected to be significant. Between fiscal 2018 and 2025, about 27 per cent of H-1B petitions filed by covered employers attracted the biometric fee. Had the new interpretation been in place, approximately 75 per cent of their H-1B petitions would have been subject to the charge.
DHS said its earlier interpretation of the law had been incorrect. Congress included extension applications when it established the fee in 2015, but DHS had linked collection of the charge to cases in which the separate fraud-prevention fee also applied.
“The best interpretation of that statute is that the 9-11 Biometric Fee applies to all extension of status petitions even when the Fraud Fee is not applicable,” the department said.
The proceeds support the biometric entry-exit programme used to verify the identities of foreign nationals entering and leaving the US. Part of the collections goes into a dedicated biometric account, while the remainder is deposited into the Treasury's general fund.
DHS said collections had fallen from $158 million in fiscal 2016 to $25.6 million in fiscal 2025, arguing that broader fee collection was necessary to maintain facial-comparison and other biometric systems at US land, sea and air ports.