In a striking disclosure that underscores the high-stakes economics now governing America's premier skilled-worker visa program, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Senate panel on June 2 that more than 200,000 H-1B applicants have paid the $100,000 supplemental processing fee introduced under the Trump administration this fiscal year.
"We had 286,000 applicants year-to-date for the H-1B visas. Out of those, over 200,000 of them paid $100,000 because it allows us to process them in a little bit faster manner," Mullin told lawmakers
during testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
More than 70% of those applicants opted for the premium route, demonstrating the willingness of employers and workers to pay substantial fees for faster processing.
The $100,000 Fee: Origins and Scope
In September 2025, a presidential proclamation introduced a $100,000 supplemental fee for certain H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025.
The goal was to discourage employers from outsourcing entry-level roles to foreign workers and prioritize higher-skilled positions.
The $100,000 fee applies primarily to new H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, for beneficiaries outside the United States who do not already possess a valid H-1B visa and are requesting consular notification, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection for beneficiaries.
Critically, the fee does not apply universally.
Change of status petitions, amendments, and extensions of stay for beneficiaries already in the U.S. are generally not subject to the $100,000 fee.
According to White House statements and USCIS guidance, this supplemental fee does not apply to most H-1B extensions for existing workers, many change of status cases filed inside the United States, such as F-1 to H-1B, or many change of employer filings.
The rule is currently scheduled to remain in effect through September 21, 2026, unless extended.
The Processing Time Gap
The data Mullin presented highlights why so many applicants are absorbing the extraordinary cost.
According to Mullin, applications under this route are processed in about 15 days, while regular applications currently take nearly seven and a half months.
For employers trying to fill critical roles — and for workers whose immigration status, employment authorization, and career trajectory hang in the balance — that difference can be decisive.
The willingness of applicants to pay the additional fee underscores the importance of securing timely visa approvals. Delays can affect hiring schedules, workforce planning, project timelines, and recruitment efforts across multiple industries.
Rural Healthcare and Education: A Growing Fault Line
The hearing surfaced sharp tensions between the fee's stated objectives and its real-world consequences for sectors beyond Big Tech.
Senator Susan Collins raised the example of a hospital in Presque Isle, a rural community in northern Maine, which had to pay the fee to recruit a surgeon from overseas.
Collins argued that healthcare providers serving underserved communities should not face the same financial burden as large corporations hiring workers in highly competitive sectors.
"I would suggest that there's a huge difference between bringing in a computer expert from another country to work in wealthy California and Silicon Valley versus a much-needed surgeon to work at a rural hospital in northern Maine," Collins said.
The conversation later broadened beyond healthcare. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska highlighted ongoing teacher shortages in rural school districts and suggested that H-1B visa policies may also need to account for challenges faced by educators in underserved communities.
Mullin acknowledged those concerns and suggested that the department may have flexibility to waive the fee in certain cases. "There are some exemptions that we can do administratively," he said, noting that DHS is examining options for occupations facing severe worker shortages.
The Broader Landscape: Wage-Based Lottery and Declining Registrations
Mullin's disclosure comes amid a period of sweeping change in the H-1B program. Beyond the $100,000 fee, a new wage-weighted lottery system has fundamentally altered the selection process for cap-subject H-1B visas.
For the first time in the history of the H-1B program, the lottery moved away from a purely random "luck of the draw" format to a wage-based selection system.
Under this system, the number of lottery entries a registration receives will correspond to the offered salary relative to the Department of Labor's four-level wage scale: Level 1 (entry-level) = 1 entry, Level 2 (some experience) = 2 entries, Level 3 (mid-level) = 3 entries, and Level 4 (highly experienced) = 4 entries.
The combined effect of these policy changes has been dramatic.
Total registrations have dropped from roughly 780,000 in FY2024 to an estimated 200,000–250,000 for FY2027 — a decline of nearly 70% in three years.
The overall FY2027 selection rate is estimated at 34 to 42 percent
, a marked improvement from the odds applicants faced during peak registration years — though selection odds are now heavily stratified by salary level.
Offshore IT staffing firms that historically dominated the H-1B program with thousands of registrations per year have seen the largest drops. Companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and Cognizant — which once filed for thousands of Level I and Level II positions — face a drastically different cost-benefit calculation under the combined pressure of the $100K fee, wage-weighted odds, and fraud detection.
Legal Challenges Continue
The $100,000 fee has not gone unchallenged in the courts.
The US Chamber of Commerce, Association of American Universities, and 20 state attorneys general led by California have all filed challenges. A federal judge upheld the fee in December 2025, but appeals are pending.
What This Means for Employers and Applicants
For immigration practitioners and HR professionals, the data shared by Secretary Mullin reinforces several key takeaways:
Budget planning is non-negotiable.
H-1B visa changes in 2026 will significantly increase employer costs and risk. A $100,000 supplemental fee and wage-based H-1B lottery are reshaping sponsorship strategy and workforce planning.
Employers sponsoring overseas candidates must account for the supplemental fee when building hiring budgets.
Domestic talent pipelines gain strategic importance.
F-1 OPT students already in the US do not trigger the fee, and neither do H-1B workers already in the country. This effectively redirects the program toward workers who are already in the US — predominantly international students graduating from American universities.
Alternative visa categories merit exploration. For workers and employers who cannot absorb the $100,000 fee, categories such as O-1 (extraordinary ability), L-1 (intracompany transfer), and cap-exempt H-1B sponsorship through universities and nonprofits may offer viable alternatives.
Exemptions remain possible but narrow.
USCIS clarified that exceptions to the $100,000 H-1B payment might be granted in the "extraordinarily rare circumstance" where the Secretary of Homeland Security determined that the H-1B worker's employment is in the national interest and no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position.
Looking Ahead
The more than $20 billion in supplemental fees collected from over 200,000 applicants represents a remarkable revenue stream — and a stark illustration of how the cost of U.S. employer-sponsored immigration has evolved in a single fiscal year.
Some supporters of the higher fee argue that this helps give back jobs to American skilled workers and filter out fraudulent applications. Critics, however, say it risks pricing out smaller firms and public-sector employers that already struggle to compete for skilled workers.
As DHS reviews potential adjustments, healthcare providers and educators in underserved regions will be watching closely to see whether exemptions or special considerations emerge for occupations facing acute shortages.
With litigation ongoing and the fee's September 2026 sunset date approaching, the coming months will be pivotal in determining whether this policy becomes a permanent fixture of the H-1B landscape or undergoes significant revision.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions about the $100,000 H-1B fee, the wage-based lottery, or your immigration options, consult a qualified immigration attorney.