DHS Wants a $103,265 Fee on New H-1B Petitions. You Have Until September 24 to Comment

For years the H-1B program has worked as a discount for employers. Some use it not because they can’t find Americans, but because a worker whose visa depends on the boss costs less and can’t easily quit. The Department of Homeland Security has now proposed putting a $103,265 fee on every new petition that counts against the annual cap. The public comment period runs through September 24, and NumbersUSA has already weighed in.

The fee would be due at filing, on top of what employers pay now, and would cover roughly 85,000 petitions a year. Colleges and research nonprofits are cap-exempt and wouldn’t pay it. DHS figures the revenue would be  about $8.8 billion annually, most of it headed to USCIS, the immigration courts, and ICE.

Last year’s $100,000 fee came by presidential proclamation, and a court tossed it in June (though it’s under appeal). This fee was established through the rulemaking process, so we expect big business to weigh in and try to get another court to toss it. DHS sees this as a way to raise revenue to support our legal immigration system.  We also see this as an avenue to incentivize employers to hire American workers. A firm that needs one specialist for one job may still pay. A firm that has been using the program to hold down payroll will notice the savings are diminished. That’s a good thing. Guest worker programs shouldn’t provide discounts for bypassing American workers.

The $103,000 fee is not a cure. The cap stays at 85,000, big companies can absorb the cost, and the lottery, the wage rules, and the OPT pipeline are untouched. A rule can also be rewritten by the next administration. Lasting change still has to come from Congress, which is why we keep pushing bills like H.R. 8443 and S. 2941. We support the fee and continue to press Congress at the same time.

What we told DHS

The H-1B program is not filling a talent gap. Rather, it is providing a captive, underpaid workforce that depresses wages for American workers in high-skill occupations. The program transfers wealth from American workers to employers: firms pocket the savings while comparable Americans earn less, or are displaced entirely.

We also expressed support for the agency to go higher with the fee, to not make exemptions, to increase it annually, and to apply it to other programs that harm U.S. workers.

How to comment

Open the rule on Regulations.gov, click “Comment,” and paste in your text. Over 7,000 people have done it already. Sample language below if you’d like to use it:

I support the proposed fee on H-1B cap-subject petitions because it changes the economic calculus for employers who replace qualified and interested American workers with cheaper, captive foreign labor. While a higher fee will not solve the many problems with the H-1B program, it will help tilt hiring decisions back toward recruiting domestic talent.

If you’ve been on the wrong end of this program – passed over, told to train your replacement, or just watched it happen down the hall – add that. Agencies hear from lobbyists all day. They need to hear from the people who lost their job or a job opportunity just as much.

Comments close at midnight Eastern on September 24.