Quick Answer
Sponsoring an H-1B worker costs an employer $2,225 to $3,595 in mandatory government fees for a new cap-subject petition in 2026-27, depending on company size, plus $4,000 more for large H-1B-dependent employers. Optional premium processing adds $2,965. The controversial $100,000 fee on new petitions for workers abroad was struck down by a federal court in June 2026 and is not currently enforceable, though an appeal is pending. Most H-1B fees must be paid by the employer by law and cannot be passed to the employee.
Summary
- Registration (lottery entry): $215 per beneficiary, nonrefundable
- Base I-129 filing fee: $780 ($460 for small employers and nonprofits)
- ACWIA training fee: $1,500 ($750 for employers with 25 or fewer employees; some nonprofits exempt)
- Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee: $500 (new petitions and transfers)
- Asylum Program Fee: $600 ($300 for small employers, $0 for nonprofits)
- Premium processing (optional): $2,965 for filings on or after March 1, 2026
- $100,000 proclamation fee: vacated by a federal court, currently not enforceable, appeal pending
- Employer-paid by law: most required fees and petition attorney costs cannot be shifted to the worker
Introduction
H-1B sponsorship budgeting got harder over the past two years: the registration fee jumped from $10 to $215, an asylum program surcharge appeared, premium processing rose again, and a $100,000 proclamation fee arrived, went to court, and is currently off the table. This guide gives employers the complete, current picture: every required fee, totals by company size, what transfers and extensions cost, the legal rules on who pays, and what to budget for the FY 2027 cap season.
How Much Does an H1B Visa Cost 2026–27?
A new cap-subject H-1B petition costs most large employers $3,595 in mandatory government fees in 2026-27: the $215 registration, $780 I-129 base fee, $1,500 ACWIA training fee, $500 fraud fee, and $600 Asylum Program Fee. Small employers (25 or fewer employees) pay about $2,225 thanks to reduced rates. H-1B-dependent employers with 50 or more employees and more than half their workforce on H-1B or L-1 status pay an additional $4,000.
With optional premium processing ($2,965) and typical attorney fees ($2,000 to $5,000 nationally), a fully loaded new H-1B commonly lands between $5,000 and $12,000 per worker. Fees below are current as of August 2026; verify on the USCIS Fee Schedule (G-1055) before filing.
Every H-1B Government Fee, Explained
Registration fee: $215
Paid during the March electronic registration window for each beneficiary entered in the H-1B lottery. It is nonrefundable whether or not the registration is selected. This fee rose from $10 to $215 starting with the FY 2026 cap season, which changed the economics of mass registrations.
Form I-129 base filing fee: $780 or $460
The core petition fee. Employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, and qualifying nonprofits, pay the reduced $460 rate. Paid again for transfers, extensions, and amendments.
ACWIA training fee: $1,500 or $750
The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act fee funds U.S. worker training programs. Employers with 26 or more full-time equivalents pay $1,500; smaller employers pay $750. Institutions of higher education, related nonprofits, and certain research organizations are exempt. It applies to the first petition and the first extension with a given employer, but not to subsequent extensions. By statute, this fee cannot be paid by the employee under any circumstances.
Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee: $500
Applies to new H-1B petitions and change-of-employer transfers, but not to extensions with the same employer.
Asylum Program Fee: $600, $300, or $0
Added under the 2024 fee rule to every I-129 petition: $600 for most employers, $300 for small employers with 25 or fewer employees, and $0 for qualifying nonprofits. It applies each time an I-129 is filed, including extensions.
Public Law 114-113 fee: $4,000
Applies only to employers with 50 or more U.S. employees where more than 50 percent of the workforce holds H-1B or L-1 status. Paid on new petitions and transfers, not on extensions with the same employer. Heavily affects IT consulting and staffing companies.
Total H-1B Cost by Employer Size
In text form: small employers (25 or fewer employees) pay $215 registration, $460 base fee, $750 ACWIA, $500 fraud fee, and $300 asylum fee for a required total of $2,225. Standard employers pay $215, $780, $1,500, $500, and $600 for a total of $3,595. H-1B-dependent employers add the $4,000 Public Law 114-113 fee for a total of $7,595. With optional premium processing ($2,965), the totals become $5,190, $6,560, and $10,560.
Qualifying nonprofits and universities typically pay less: they are cap-exempt (no registration in most cases), ACWIA-exempt, and pay $0 asylum fee and the $460 base rate.
New Petition vs. Transfer vs. Extension: What You Pay Each Time
H-1B costs recur, and the mix changes by filing type:
- New cap-subject petition: all fees above, including the $215 registration
- Transfer (change of employer): no registration or lottery, but the new employer pays the I-129 base fee, ACWIA (as its first petition), the $500 fraud fee, the asylum fee, and PL 114-113 if applicable, typically $3,380 for a standard employer
- Extension with the same employer: I-129 base fee and asylum fee always; ACWIA only on the first extension; no fraud fee; typically, $1,380 to $2,880 for a standard employer
- Amendment (material change in role or location): same structure as an extension
Over a six-year H-1B lifespan with one extension, a standard employer should budget roughly $7,000 to $10,000 in government fees alone per worker, before any green card process.
The $100,000 H-1B Fee: Where It Stands Now
As of August 2026, the $100,000 fee is not enforceable. Presidential Proclamation 10973, issued September 19, 2025, required a $100,000 payment with new H-1B petitions for workers located outside the United States. A federal district court vacated the fee on June 8, 2026, ruling it an unlawful tax, and on July 24, 2026, the First Circuit declined to reinstate it while the government’s appeal proceeds. The proclamation by its own terms expires September 20, 2026, unless extended.
What this means for employers: petitions filed now do not require the payment, but the appeal is live and the policy environment can shift quickly. Employers planning filings for workers abroad should confirm the current status the week they file and factor the uncertainty into timing decisions. This is one area where checking with counsel before filing is simply prudent.
Who Must Pay What: The Legal Rules
Most H-1B costs legally belong to the employer, and the rules have teeth:
- The ACWIA training fee can never be paid by the employee. The statute prohibits it outright, with penalties for violations.
- Other required fees and the business’s attorney costs are treated as the employer’s business expenses. An employee’s “reimbursing” for them is unlawful if it cuts the worker’s effective pay below the required wage on the LCA, which it almost always does in practice.
- Deductions and clawback agreements that recoup petition costs from wages face the same wage-violation problem, and poorly drafted repayment agreements have generated DOL back-wage awards.
- What the employee may pay: their own consular visa application costs, dependent (H-4) filings, and premium processing when it is requested for the employee’s personal benefit rather than the employer’s need.
Getting this allocation wrong is not technical. DOL wage investigations and back-pay liability follow from it, so the who-pays column of your budget deserves the same care as the totals.
Optional Costs: Premium Processing and Attorney Fees
Premium processing costs $2,965 for filings on or after March 1, 2026 (up from $2,805) and buys a USCIS action within 15 business days. It does not improve approval odds; it buys certainty on timing. Most employers use it for start-date deadlines, transfers where the worker wants security before resigning, and driver’s license or travel timing issues.
Attorney fees for H-1B petitions typically run $2,000 to $5,000 nationally for standard cases, more for RFEs, audits, or complex corporate structures. As with government fees, the employer generally bears petition attorney costs. Flat-fee arrangements are standard, and worth confirming in writing, including whether RFE responses are covered.
What the Employee Pays (Visa Stamping and Dependents)
The worker’s own out-of-pocket costs arise mainly at the consulate: the $205 nonimmigrant visa application (MRV) fee, the $250 visa integrity fee introduced under 2025 legislation for most nonimmigrant visas, any country-specific reciprocity fee, and travel costs. Dependent spouses and children pay the same consular fees for H-4 visas, and H-4 filings inside the U.S. (Form I-539, $470 paper or $420 online) are typically the family’s expense as well.
These employee-side amounts change on State Department schedules; check current figures at travel.state.gov before a stamping trip.
Budgeting Strategy for Cap Season 2027
Four planning points for the March 2027 registration window:
- Register only for real hires. At $215 per registration and with USCIS actively policing multiple-registration abuse, speculative entries carry both cost and compliance risk.
- Budget the full lifecycle, not the filing. A realistic per-worker model includes the new petition, one extension, possible amendment, premium processing at least once, and the green card process (PERM and I-140) that most H-1B retention strategies eventually require.
- Confirm your size tier before filing. The small-employer thresholds (25 or fewer FTEs) cut the I-129, ACWIA, and asylum fees nearly in half. Miscounting FTEs in either direction causes rejected filings or overpayment.
- Watch the $100K litigation and the proclamation’s September 2026 expiration date. For candidates currently abroad, filing timing may matter more this year than in any recent cycle.
Next Steps
H-1B sponsorship in 2026-27 is a known, budgetable cost for most employers: roughly $2,225 to $7,595 in required fees per new hire depending on your size and H-1B dependency, plus optional premium processing and counsel. The variables that actually hurt budgets are the ones above the line of items: wrong size tier, fees illegally shifted to workers, and litigation-driven policy swings like the $100,000 fee.
If your company is planning cap season filings, transfers, or a sponsorship policy, the business immigration attorneys at Visa Pros (Weinstock Immigration Lawyers) work with employers across Georgia, Alabama, and nationwide on flat-fee H-1B programs, from registration strategy through petitions, RFEs, and the green card stage. Contact us for a consultation before the March window.
This article provides general information, not legal advice. Government fees change and litigation outcomes can shift requirements quickly; verify current fees with USCIS (G-1055) and the Department of State or consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mandatory government fees for a new cap-subject petition total about $2,225 for small employers (25 or fewer employees), $3,595 for standard employers, and $7,595 for H-1B-dependent employers subject to the $4,000 Public Law 114-113 fee. Premium processing adds $2,965, and attorney fees typically run $2,000 to $5,000.
No. A federal court vacated the $100,000 fee on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit declined to reinstate it on July 24, 2026, so it is not enforceable as of August 2026. The government’s appeal is pending, and the underlying proclamation expires September 20, 2026, unless extended, so employers should confirm the current status before filing for workers abroad.
The employer, for almost everything. The ACWIA training fee can never be paid by the employee by statute, and other required fees and petition attorney costs cannot be shifted to the worker doing so cuts pay below the required wage. Employees typically pay only their own consular visa fees, dependent filings, and premium processing requested for personal reasons.
$215 per beneficiary, paid during the March registration window. It is nonrefundable whether or not the registration is selected in the lottery. The fee rose from $10 starting with the FY 2026 cap season.
$2,965 for requests filed on or after March 1, 2026. It guarantees USCIS takes action, approval, RFE, or denial, within 15 business days. It speeds the decision but does not improve approval of chances.
A change-of-employer petition skips the lottery and registration, but the new employer pays the I-129 base fee, the ACWIA fee, the $500 fraud fee, the asylum fee, and the $4,000 PL 114-113 fee if applicable, typically about $3,380 in government fees for a standard employer.
Extensions with the same employer require the I-129 base fee and the Asylum Program Fee each time, plus the ACWIA fee on the first extension only. There is no fraud fee or registration fee. A standard employer typically pays $1,380 for a second extension and $2,880 for a first extension.
Qualifying institutions of higher education, related nonprofits, and certain research organizations are cap-exempt (no lottery), exempt from the ACWIA fee, pay the reduced $460 I-129 rate, and pay no Asylum Program Fee. The $500 fraud fee still applies to their new petitions.
Repayment agreements are legally risky. Recouping required fees or petition attorney costs violates wage rules if it drops effective pay below the LCA wage, and the ACWIA fee can never be recovered from the worker. Some narrowly drafted liquidated-damages agreements survive scrutiny; this is an area for legal advice before signing anything.
Mainly consular costs at stamping: the $205 MRV application fee, the $250 visa integrity fee, any reciprocity fee for their nationality, and travel. H-4 dependent visas carry the same consular fees, and an in-U.S. H-4 extension (Form I-539) is $470 on paper or $420 online.
No. H-1B petitions are approved for up to three years at a time, so the core fee package applies at the new petition and again at extension, not annually. Over a typical six-year run with one extension, a standard employer pays roughly $7,000 to $10,000 in government fees.
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