Why H-1B Visa Fees Keep Changing: A Timeline of Increases

H-1B costs move on three different clocks at once — here's the dated timeline of what actually changed, and what's not being collected right now.

If you looked up the H-1B filing fee six months ago and are still budgeting off that number, stop — it has probably already changed, and one of the biggest H-1B "fees" of the past year isn't even being collected right now. H-1B-related costs don't move on one schedule. They move on at least three separate ones: a slow statutory track that only Congress can touch, a routine USCIS inflation-adjustment track, and — since late 2025 — an unusually volatile executive-action track that just got knocked back in federal court. Here's the dated timeline, so you can tell which number is current and which one is history.

Why the number keeps moving

Most people assume "the H-1B fee" is one line item that occasionally goes up. It's actually several separate fees, set by different authorities, on different clocks:

1. Statutory fees set by Congress. Some H-1B-related charges — like the training fee and the anti-fraud fee tied to the petition — trace back to specific acts of Congress. Their rates don't move unless Congress legislates a change, though the base filing fee sitting alongside them can still shift through USCIS rulemaking.
2. USCIS's own periodic fee rule. USCIS is funded almost entirely by the fees it collects, not by tax appropriations, so it periodically issues a comprehensive fee rule to reset prices against its actual operating costs. The rule that took effect April 1, 2024 is the most recent example that reshaped several immigrant-petition and adjustment-of-status fees. The premium processing increase that took effect March 1, 2026 is a smaller, more routine version of the same mechanism.
3. Executive action outside normal rulemaking. The $100,000 H-1B supplemental fee didn't come from a USCIS fee rule at all — it came from a presidential proclamation. That's a different legal channel, and it's a large part of why the fee ran into trouble in court: a federal judge found it bypassed the notice-and-comment process ordinary fee changes go through.

Three tracks, three different reasons to change, three different levels of legal durability. That's why "the H-1B fee" reads differently depending on which week you look it up.

The dated timeline

1. April 1, 2024 — USCIS's comprehensive fee rule takes effect. It folds the former separate $85 biometric services fee into the I-485 base fee, eliminates the old reduced filing rate for children under 14 filing on their own, and adds a new Asylum Program Fee to I-140 and several other petition types.
2. September 2025 — Under Proclamation 10973, the administration imposes a new $100,000 supplemental fee on new H-1B petitions for beneficiaries outside the United States. It's the single largest H-1B-related fee change on record, layered on top of the standard filing costs. (The proclamation's 12-month restriction period is set to expire on September 20, 2026, which places its issuance around this month.)
3. February 27, 2026 — Separately, USCIS's wage-weighted H-1B lottery selection rule takes effect. This isn't a fee change, but it lands in the same stretch of H-1B rulemaking and is worth knowing about if you're tracking how much the program has shifted in a single year.
4. March 1, 2026 — USCIS's periodic inflation adjustment raises the I-140 premium processing fee to $2,965.
5. June 8, 2026 — The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacates the $100,000 proclamation, holding that it exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers principles.
6. July 24, 2026 — The First Circuit Court of Appeals denies the government's request to reinstate the fee while its appeal proceeds.
7. August 17, 2026 (today) — The $100,000 fee remains blocked and is not being collected. The appeal is still pending.
8. September 20, 2026 — Proclamation 10973's underlying 12-month restriction period is due to sunset unless the administration extends it, which would reopen the question of whether a new version of the fee could take effect.

Old vs new, side by side

For a fuller line-item breakdown across the whole H-1B-to-green-card process, see our USCIS fee schedule for H-1B and green card costs. Fee amounts on that page are dated the same way this table is — always cross-check against USCIS's own schedule before you file.

The $100,000 fee, unpacked

This is the fee most people are actually asking about when they search for "H-1B fee increase," so it earns its own section.

The proclamation imposed the $100,000 charge on new H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries who were outside the United States at the time. It didn't touch existing H-1B holders inside the country the same way, which is exactly the kind of scope question that has generated the most confusion — including from students on OPT or STEM OPT wondering whether it reached them. If that's your situation, our dedicated piece on whether the $100,000 fee applies to OPT students walks through the applicability question directly rather than as a footnote here.

The fee's legal status has moved fast. It was vacated by the District of Massachusetts on June 8, 2026 for exceeding executive authority and violating the APA and separation-of-powers principles. The government appealed and asked the First Circuit to let it keep collecting the fee while the appeal was pending; the court said no on July 24, 2026. As of today, August 17, 2026, the fee is not being collected, and the appeal is still working its way through the First Circuit.

None of that makes the underlying question go away for anyone weighing a consular interview against a change of status this year — the fee's on-again, off-again status is exactly the kind of variable that should factor into that decision. If you're in that position, our guide to the consular processing versus change of status decision under the $100,000 fee walks through how to think about timing when the underlying rule is still in litigation.

Watch September 20, 2026. That's when Proclamation 10973's 12-month restriction period sunsets unless the administration extends it — a date that could reopen the fee question independent of how the appeal resolves.

Who actually owes these fees

A related question that comes up constantly is who is supposed to pay for all of this — the employer or the candidate. That's a legally specific question with rules that vary by which fee you're talking about, and getting it wrong can create real problems for both sides. This post isn't the place to answer it definitively; our piece on who is legally required to pay H-1B fees covers the distinctions, and if your specific offer or transfer has an unusual fee-allocation arrangement, that's worth a conversation with an immigration attorney before you sign anything, not after.

The premium processing fee is a slightly different case, since it's often optional — you're paying for a faster USCIS decision, not a mandatory part of the petition. Whether that $2,965 is worth it for your situation depends on your timeline pressure, and we cover that trade-off separately in is I-140 premium processing worth the fee.

What to expect next

Two things are worth watching over the rest of 2026. First, USCIS's routine fee-rule cycle will keep doing what it's always done — periodic, dated adjustments to keep the agency's fee-funded budget aligned with its costs, the kind of change that rarely makes headlines but quietly moves your total cost by a few hundred dollars every year or two. Second, the $100,000 fee's legal status is genuinely unresolved: the September 20, 2026 sunset date and the pending First Circuit appeal are two separate paths that could each change its status again before the end of the year. Neither of those is a prediction of what will happen — they're dates to put on your own calendar and re-check.

Common mistakes

• Budgeting for the $100,000 fee as a current cost. It's vacated and not being collected as of this writing. Don't plan a hiring or filing decision around a number that isn't currently in effect.
• Assuming premium processing has a fixed price. It's adjusted periodically — the March 2026 change to $2,965 is the most recent instance, not the last one.
• Treating the I-129 (H-1B petition) fee and the I-140 (immigrant petition) fee as interchangeable. They're different forms on different fee schedules; a number for one tells you nothing reliable about the other.
• Reading an old blog post, including one from this site, as a live fee schedule. Every fee figure needs a date attached to it, because the underlying rule can change out from under it.
• Skipping the official source at filing time. USCIS's own fee schedule is the only place guaranteed to reflect the current, in-effect amount the day you actually submit a petition.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to pay the $100,000 H-1B fee right now? No. A federal court in Massachusetts vacated the fee on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit refused to reinstate it while the government's appeal proceeds, in a ruling on July 24, 2026. As of August 17, 2026 it is not being collected. The proclamation's underlying 12-month restriction period is set to expire on September 20, 2026 unless extended, which could reopen the question, so confirm current status with your employer's immigration attorney before making any financial decision around it.

Why did the I-140 premium processing fee increase in 2026? USCIS raised the premium processing fee to $2,965 effective March 1, 2026. This is a routine, periodic adjustment tied to USCIS's operating costs, separate from the $100,000 proclamation. USCIS is funded almost entirely by filing fees rather than by congressional appropriations, so it regularly revisits its fee schedule to keep pace with what its own operations cost.

Is the H-1B petition fee the same as the I-140 fee? No. The H-1B petition is filed on Form I-129 and sits on its own fee structure, separate from Form I-140, the immigrant petition an employer files later toward a green card. Because the two forms adjust on different schedules, reusing a number you saw for one to estimate the other is a common budgeting mistake. Check USCIS's current fee schedule for the specific form you are about to file.

Where can I find the current official H-1B and green card fee amounts? USCIS's own fee schedule is the only source that updates the moment a rule takes effect, so treat any blog post, including this one, as a snapshot dated to when it was written. Our breakdown of the current USCIS fee schedule tracks the major line items, but for a filing you are about to submit, confirm the exact figure with your attorney or on USCIS's site the same week you file.

Will the $100,000 H-1B fee come back? It is possible but not settled. The proclamation's 12-month restriction period sunsets on September 20, 2026 unless the administration extends it, and the government's appeal of the June vacatur is still pending in the First Circuit. Either path could revive some version of the fee, so this is worth tracking rather than assuming it is permanently gone, and an immigration attorney can tell you how a change would land on your specific petition timing.

Tracking H-1B costs while you're also trying to land the role in the first place is a lot to carry alone. F1Jobs can help you keep the job-search side moving while the fee picture keeps shifting underneath it.