Trump Administration Takes Second Swing at Hefty Fees for Visa Applicants

The Trump administration has doubled down on its efforts to discourage employers from seeking skilled foreign workers, including physicians, through the H-1B visa program, publishing a new draft rule on Tuesday.

The proposed rule would require a $103,265 fee for certain visa applications, typically paid for by employers. Revenue from the charges would be funneled to the legal immigration system, including federal immigration courts and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security said that the new fee would apply to all H-1B visa petitions subject to the 85,000-visa cap, including the 20,000 visas earmarked for those with master’s or other higher degrees. The $103,265 fee would be paid on top of H-1B filing fees, the agency noted.

The proposed regulation would exempt most U.S. colleges, universities, and nonprofit hospitals tied to academic institutions.

This is the second time President Trump has attempted to drastically increase application fees in the H-1B visa program.

In September 2025, Trump issued an executive order that aimed to raise the cost of application fees on every H-1B visa petition — from $2,000-$5,000 to $100,000 per petition — in an effort to target “systemic abuse” of the program.

Trump has argued that the program takes jobs away from American workers. The proposed rule states that the new fees would make employers “less likely to hire an H-1B worker over a qualified and highly-skilled American.”

In June, a district court judge ruled that the administration’s action had exceeded its authority and halted the president’s policy. “The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston.

Medical groups applauded the judge’s actions, having previously sought exemptions from the executive order for physicians and other healthcare workers, to no avail. They argued that the fees would have exacerbated healthcare workforce shortages, since international medical graduates make up about 25% of the U.S. physician workforce.

Congress launched the H-1B program in 1990, granting visas for 65,000 skilled foreign workers each year, and an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees from American universities.

A cross-sectional study published last year showed that vulnerable and underserved counties have a higher share of H-1B visa-sponsored physicians, who are also more likely to fill gaps in healthcare delivery systems, including primary care and psychiatry.

The administration appealed the judge’s ruling, and requested a temporary freeze on Sorokin’s ruling, but that request was denied. Without an extension, the executive order is slated to expire on Sept. 21.

Unlike the executive order, the proposed regulation would apply to large numbers of workers already living in the U.S.

The public will have 30 days to provide comments.

In a statement, the American Medical Association said that it was reviewing the proposed rule, “but would be concerned if such a proposal would have [impacts] on access to care, particularly in rural and other underserved areas where international medical graduates are a critical component of the healthcare delivery system.”