H-1B Visa Fees: Old Rules vs New Rules Compared

The $100K H-1B fee made headlines then got blocked in court — here's what's actually true about H-1B and green card fees right now.

If you've been trying to figure out what an H-1B petition actually costs right now, the honest answer is that it depends on which headline you last read. The $100,000 supplemental fee that dominated coverage in late 2025 is not being collected as of 2026-08-17 — a federal court vacated it, and the government's attempt to keep charging it while the case is on appeal was rejected. But other fee rules genuinely did change and stayed changed. Here's what's old, what's new, and what's still moving.

The short answer

Two very different things happened to H-1B-adjacent fees, and conflating them is where most confusion comes from. First, the $100,000 fee was imposed by executive proclamation, then vacated by a federal court on 2026-06-08, then kept blocked when the First Circuit refused to reinstate it on 2026-07-24. It is not currently being charged. Second, a separate USCIS fee rule permanently restructured what I-140 and I-485 filings cost — that change is unrelated to the $100,000 litigation and is fully in effect. Treat these as two different stories with two different amounts of durability.

Timeline — how the $100,000 fee rule flipped twice

The $100,000 fee is the clearest "old rule vs new rule" story in H-1B policy right now, mostly because it has already flipped once and could flip again:

1. The fee was added. An executive proclamation created a $100,000 supplemental fee tied to H-1B petitions — a charge that had no precedent in the standard H-1B fee structure.
2. A district court vacated it. On 2026-06-08, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck the fee down, holding that it exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers principles.
3. The government appealed and asked to keep collecting anyway. While the appeal was pending, the administration asked the First Circuit to let it reinstate the fee in the meantime.
4. The First Circuit said no. On 2026-07-24, the court denied that request, keeping the fee blocked.
5. That's where things stand as of 2026-08-17. The $100,000 fee is not being collected, and the appeal is still working its way through the courts.
6. A sunset date looms. The proclamation's underlying 12-month restriction period is due to expire on 2026-09-20 unless the administration extends it — which would reopen the "old vs new" question all over again.

If you filed a petition or paid the fee while it was in effect, employers should retain complete payment records; the refund posture for those payments is unresolved and reported rather than confirmed. If that applies to you, that's a conversation for your employer's immigration counsel, not something to assume either way.

For the fuller legal blow-by-blow, our lawsuit timeline breakdown walks through the court filings in more detail, and if you're weighing consular stamping against a change-of-status filing while this is unresolved, this decision guide covers how the blocked fee interacts with that choice.

Old H-1B fee vs new H-1B fee, at a glance

Here's the comparison in table form — separating the volatile $100,000 fee from the parts of the fee structure that changed and stayed changed.

Notice the pattern: the row that made headlines (the $100,000 fee) is the one currently blocked. The rows that didn't make as much noise — the biometrics fold-in, the child rate change, the premium processing increase — are the ones that are quietly, permanently in effect.

The fee changes that didn't get vacated

It's worth separating these clearly because they get lumped in with the $100,000 fee news constantly, and they shouldn't be. The I-140 and I-485 fee structure went through its own rule change, and none of it was touched by the court decisions above.

I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker). The base filing fee is $715. On top of that, USCIS charges an Asylum Program Fee — $300 if you're self-petitioning, $600 if your employer is sponsoring the petition. This fee stack is what actually funds the transition from H-1B to a green card category like EB-1 or EB-2, and it applies regardless of what happens with the $100,000 litigation.

I-485 (Adjustment of Status). The base fee is $1,440 if filed by mail or $1,390 if filed online, for applicants 14 and older. A child under 14 filing with a parent pays a flat $950. Two things worth flagging: the old separate $85 biometrics fee no longer exists as a line item — it's baked into the base fee since the 2024-04-01 rule — and there's no additional fee for filing a work permit (I-765) or travel document (I-131) alongside the I-485. Processing time for the I-485 itself runs roughly 9 to 42.5 months depending on category and field office, and unlike the I-140, there is no premium processing option for it at all.

For the complete fee stack across every stage of the H-1B-to-green-card path, our full USCIS fee schedule for H-1B and green card filings lays every number out in one place, including the ones this post doesn't cover.

Premium processing, by category

If speed matters more than cost, premium processing is the lever — but the guarantee window isn't the same for every green card category:

That $2,965 figure is itself the result of a periodic inflation adjustment that took effect on 2026-03-01 — it moves on its own schedule, independent of the $100,000 proclamation fight. Not every dollar figure attached to H-1B costs traces back to that one court case, and it's a mistake to assume it does. Also worth knowing: the 15- or 45-business-day clock only starts once USCIS accepts the premium processing request, and it pauses entirely if USCIS issues an RFE, resuming only after your response is received. Weekends and federal holidays don't count toward those business days either, so 15 business days runs closer to three calendar weeks than two.

What this means for your cost planning

If you're an H-1B holder or a candidate weighing an offer that involves sponsorship, here's the practical takeaway: the $100,000 figure that's been circulating is not a cost you should be building into current planning, because it is not being charged. The costs that are real and current are the I-140 and I-485 fee stack above, plus whatever your employer's immigration counsel quotes for legal fees, which vary by firm and aren't something we'll estimate here.

If you're on OPT or STEM OPT and wondering whether any of this touches your stage of the process differently, this piece on how the $100,000 fee interacts with OPT status is worth reading before you assume it does or doesn't apply to you. And if you just want the baseline breakdown of what an H-1B petition itself costs to file, separate from the green card fees above, our guide to the H-1B filing fee covers that layer specifically.

None of this is legal advice for your specific case. Fee amounts and litigation status can move quickly — confirm current numbers with your employer's immigration attorney or the official USCIS fee schedule before you rely on any figure in this post, including the ones here.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the $100,000 fee still applies because an older article or a social media post said so. It's blocked as of 2026-08-17, but plenty of content published before June 2026 hasn't been updated to reflect that.
• Treating the $100,000 proclamation and the 2024-04-01 USCIS fee rule as the same lawsuit. They're unrelated. One is blocked in court; the other is fully in force and untouched by the litigation.
• Expecting premium processing for an I-485. It doesn't exist for that form — premium processing only applies to the I-140 in this context.
• Budgeting around a fee figure without a date attached. Premium processing fees, biometrics rules, and the $100,000 fee's status have all moved within the past two years. A number without a "as of" date is a guess, not a fact.
• Ignoring the 2026-09-20 sunset date. Because the proclamation's restriction period expires then unless extended, treating today's "blocked" status as permanent is premature.

Frequently asked questions

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect? No. A federal court in Massachusetts vacated the fee on 2026-06-08, ruling it exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers principles. The government asked the First Circuit to let it keep collecting the fee during the appeal, and the court refused on 2026-07-24. As of 2026-08-17 the fee is not being collected, though the appeal is still pending — so this is a snapshot, not a permanent resolution.

What did H-1B fees look like before the $100,000 proclamation? There was no six-figure supplemental fee at all. Employers paid the standard H-1B petition costs through USCIS and DOL, and candidates who moved on to a green card petition paid the usual I-140 and I-485 fees described above. The $100,000 charge was a new addition layered on top of that existing structure, not a replacement for it.

How much does an EB-1 or EB-2 green card petition cost under the current fee rules? The I-140 base filing fee is $715, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $300 for self-petitioners or $600 for employer-sponsored petitions. Premium processing costs $2,965 as of 2026-03-01 and guarantees action within 15 business days for most categories, or 45 business days for EB-1C and EB-2 NIW cases. The I-485 that follows runs $1,440 by mail or $1,390 online for applicants 14 and older, or $950 for a child under 14 filing with a parent, with no separate charge for a concurrently filed I-765 or I-131.

Could the H-1B fee rules change again before the end of 2026? Yes, and that's the main reason to treat any "current rules" summary as time-stamped rather than permanent. The $100,000 fee's appeal is still active, and the proclamation's underlying 12-month restriction period is due to sunset on 2026-09-20 unless the administration extends it. Either development could reopen the fee question, so confirm the live status before you budget around it.

Did the fee for a child's green card application change too? Yes. Before the USCIS fee rule that took effect on 2024-04-01, a child under 14 filing an I-485 alongside a parent paid a reduced $750 rate plus a separate $85 biometrics fee. That tiered rate was eliminated and replaced with a flat $950 fee, and the standalone biometrics charge was folded into the base I-485 fee for everyone, adult or child.

Trying to figure out how visa costs and timing fit into a bigger job search or sponsorship plan? F1Jobs can help you think through the pieces that are actually in your control.