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The $103,265 H-1B Fee Could Cost the U.S. Treasury More than $32 Billion over a Decade

The $103,265 H-1B Fee Could Cost the U.S. Treasury More than $32 Billion over a Decade

PublishedSeptember 23, 2026
Written By
  • Trevor Wagener

DHS proposes a $103,265 fee on every cap-subject H-1B petition, 78 percent of median H-1B pay, and projects $8.8 billion a year by assuming employers keep filing 85,000 petitions. DHS's own docket contradicts that: after the $100,000 proclamation payment, registrations fell 92 percent at the most exposed employers. Counting fee receipts and the taxes lost when workers are not hired, the fee costs the Treasury more than it raises if filings fall more than about a quarter. Three of four published demand scenarios exceed that threshold, with losses of $32 billion to $142 billion over ten years.

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