USA H-1B Visa Total Cost Breakdown 2026

The USA H-1B Visa scenery has changed drastically to the year 2026 season. As this aircraft was rolled out, sponsored foreign worker is no longer a mere legal hump, now that the landmark 100,000 Presidential Proclamation fee and the USCIS fee 2026 revision were enforced, it is also a major financial cost.

You may be a HR manager and you are planning your USA H-1B Visa budget in 2026, or you are a potential employee and you have to decide whether to be charged by employers or you will have to pay the USA H-1B Visa fees on your own, it is important to understand what is being charged. This is a yearly guide that offers a professionally assessed report on the compulsory, non-compulsory, and unseen expenses of the H-1B program in 2019.

The $100, 000 Proclamation New Financial Reality

The serial killer change of the decade is the 100,000 USA H-1B Visa fee announcement signing in late 2025.4 This Restriction on Entry fee has become a new standard requirement on most new requests.

Who Must Pay the $100,000?

Consular Notification Cases: A majority of the workers that are no longer in the U.S. but require reentry on a new USA H-1B Visa.
Status Violators: U.S. citizens that did not uphold status and are not eligible to a simple Change of Status.

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How to Process USA H-1B Visa Payment

The Pay.gov USA H-1B Visa fee processing portal is required to be used by the employers.7 The proof of payment has to be provided when filing the I-129 petition. The absence of evidence of payment or a valid USA H-1B Visa authorization of the absence of national interest fee leads to an automatic refusal.

Are there Exemptions?

The exemptions on the H-1B fee of $100,000 are now restricted to:

H-1B renewals (extensions) at the same employer.
Choose the cases of National Interest (however, they are extremely rare).
Vetoed on or before the date of September 2025.

Registration and The March 2026 Lottery Window

The first step would be the registration fee of H-1B 2026 of 215 dollars per beneficiary. This is a beneficiary-centered and unreimbursable process cost.

To make these registrations, employers have to establish myUSCIS organization accounts. You should keep in mind that the $215 is just to purchase a ticket in the lottery, the heavy work (and expenditure) begins when you are chosen.

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Compulsory USCIS Filing Fee (Form I-129)

Upon the lottery selection, a 90-day period to file a complete petition follows.14 The fee schedule of USCIS 2026 update is composed of:

Form I-129 Base Fee: $780 (Standard) or 460 (Small/Non-profit).
Asylum Program Fee: This is a new fee that pays to process asylum.16 Large companies pay 600.
Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee: A new H-1B petition will accrue a flat fee of $500.
Public Law 114-113 Fee: $4000 extra to 50/50 companies (employing 50 or more people with over 50 percent in H-1B/L-1 visas).18

Optional & Ancillary Costs

To most people, the processing time of 4-6 months is excessively slow.

Premium Processing Fee 2026: It has also been raised as a result of inflation adjustments to 2,965 on March 1, 2026 to ensure that there is a response within 15 business days.19
FiH-4 Dependent Fees: ling Form I-539 on behalf of spouse/children will incur an approximate of $420 -470 in filing fees and biometrics.
Consular MRV Fee: The Consular MRV fee (Form DS-160) is now $205 to workers in the foreign parts of the world.

Encountered & Unnoticed Maintenance costs

As soon as the visa is stamped, compliance with the law should not stop.

LCA Posting: The expenses of Labor Condition Application compliance.
Prevailing Wage Compliance: The prevailing wage requires the employer to pay the actual wage or the prevailing wage which may be a huge hidden expense in case of increase in market rates.
H-1B Amendment Fee: In case an employee transfers to new work place which is not within the commuting zone, a new application fee might be asked.

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FAQs

Q; Can the employee pay the $100,000 fee?
- A: No. According to the rules of the Department of Labor, expenses of business origin are not allowed to be transferred to the person in case it reduces his salary to less than the current wage. This particular fee is meant to be paid by employers as an entry restriction fee.
Q: Does the Premium Processing fee give a refund?
- A: The USCIS does not do it within the 15-day period.
Q: Do small businesses have an exemption on the fee of 100,000?
- A: As of now, there exists no general waiver of the small businesses unless the case fits into the National Interest conditions.

Disclaimer

This is an informative and educational article. The readers should not make any financial or immigration decision based on information found in untrusted sources, including the official USCIS site or the qualified legal counsel.