Indian professionals to face higher H-1B, L-1 costs under new US immigration rule

Indian professionals working in the United States on H-1B and L-1 visas could face higher employment-related immigration costs after the US expanded an existing fee to cover visa extension petitions filed by certain employers. According to PTI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the scope of the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee to cover H-1B and L-1 extension-of-stay petitions. The change applies even when a foreign worker remains with the same employer.The fee itself has not been increased. Employers covered by the rule will pay $4,000 for an H-1B petition and $4,500 for an L-1 petition.The final rule was published on August 10 and will take effect on September 9, 2026.For Indian professionals, the change adds another layer to an already tightening US employment-based immigration system. The immediate payment will be made by qualifying employers, but the wider costs could influence how companies approach hiring, sponsorship and retention of foreign workers.WHO WILL HAVE TO PAY?The expanded fee does not apply to every US employer sponsoring an H-1B or L-1 worker. It applies to companies that have at least 50 employees in the United States and where more than 50 per cent of the workforce are in H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrant status.This threshold is commonly known as the 50-50 rule.For employers that meet both conditions, the $4,000 H-1B fee and $4,500 L-1 fee will now apply to extension-of-stay petitions as well as the categories that were already covered. That means a company could face the charge again when it seeks to extend the status of an existing foreign employee.WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR H-1B WORKERS?The key change is not the amount of the fee but when the fee has to be paid. The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee is not new. Congress introduced it in December 2015 as a replacement for an earlier supplemental charge.The money is intended to support the US biometric entry-exit system, which uses biometric information to help confirm the identities of people entering and leaving the country. Previously, qualifying employers generally paid the fee for certain initial H-1B and L-1 petitions and when an H-1B or L-1 worker changed employers.The new rule expands the requirement to extension-of-stay petitions.WHY IT MATTERS FOR INDIAN IT WORKERSThe change could be particularly relevant to large technology companies, consulting firms and IT services providers that rely heavily on foreign professionals.Indian professionals are particularly exposed to changes in the H-1B system. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 71 per cent of all H-1B petitions approved in fiscal year 2024 were for beneficiaries born in India, making Indians by far the largest group among H-1B beneficiaries. China was a distant second at about 12 per cent.For an employer with only a handful of covered workers, an additional $4,000 or $4,500 may be manageable. The calculation changes for companies with hundreds or thousands of employees whose status needs to be extended.DHS estimates that expanding the fee to additional petitions could generate about $157.3 million annually. The revenue is tied to the government's biometric entry-exit programme.EMPLOYERS, NOT WORKERS, PAY THE FEEFor Indian H-1B and L-1 workers, the most important point is that the new charge is imposed on the petitioning employer. Workers do not have to make a separate payment simply because their employer is subject to the expanded rule.That does not mean there can be no indirect consequences.Companies may factor immigration expenses into decisions involving recruitment, sponsorship and retention. Employers that already spend heavily on immigration compliance could also reassess the number of foreign workers they sponsor or the locations from which they recruit.The effect is likely to vary considerably between companies.NOT THE SAME AS THE $100,000 H-1B FEEThe expanded $4,000 H-1B and $4,500 L-1 charges should not be confused with the separate $100,000 H-1B fee announced by the Trump administration.They are different measures.The $4,000 and $4,500 amounts are part of the existing statutory 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee. DHS has expanded the circumstances in which qualifying employers must pay it.The new rule therefore does not mean that every H-1B extension in the US will automatically attract a $4,000 charge. Whether the fee applies depends largely on the employer's workforce composition and the type of petition being filed.- EndsWith inputs from PTIPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 10, 2026 18:10 IST