This is new and was announced today (8/24).
Yes, I know it's confusing as there are so many of these announcements.
I get a sense that Trump is not backing down, he is going to find his own loophole in the law to kick H1Bs out.

I quickly read through and it seems that:

• All NEW H1Bs, once approved - FEE APPLIES
• Cap Exempts like Universities - DOES NOT APPLY

Indian media sources, US immigration lawyers, wokes and others are in meltdown mode (like the football board when the Aggies lose in Q4).

H-1B Visa Update: Trump Administration Proposes $103,265 Fee
https://www.newsweek.com/h-1b-visa-update-trump-administration-proposes-103265-fee-12359024
Published
Aug 24, 2026 at 09:27 AM EDT
by Billal Rahman and Dan Gooding

Quote:

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The Trump administration is proposing a new $103,265 fee on employers seeking H-1B workers through the annual visa lottery, dramatically increasing the cost of a program widely used by technology companies and other employers to recruit skilled foreign workers.

The proposal is likely to intensify a long-running divide among Republicans over high-skilled immigration. Many MAGA-aligned critics of the H-1B program argue it allows companies to hire foreign workers at the expense of U.S. workers, suppressing wages and reducing job opportunities for American graduates.
Supporters of the program, including many technology companies and business groups, counter that H-1B visas help employers fill specialized positions in fields such as engineering and software development when they say qualified U.S. workers are in short supply.

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Quote:

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New H-1B Fee: What To Know
DHS said in a proposed rule published Monday in the Federal Register that the new fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual 85,000-visa cap, including the 20,000 visas reserved for foreign workers holding qualifying U.S. master's degrees or higher. The proposed $103,265 charge would be paid in addition to existing H-1B filing fees.
The proposal would not apply to cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including many positions at universities and nonprofit or government research institutions.

The proposed fee is distinct from a 2025 Trump executive order that imposed a $100,000 charge on certain overseas H-1B hires but was later struck down in federal court. DHS said the new $103,265 fee relies on different legal authority and that the executive order is due to expire in September unless extended.
"DHS specifically says that if both requirements are legally in effect, an employer subject to both could have to pay both," Klein said. "At that point, an employer could be looking at more than $200,000 in these two charges alone before the ordinary costs of sponsoring an H-1B worker."

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The $100,000 H-1B fee was blocked in court. Now DHS is back with an even higher number: $103,265.

DHS has now proposed a $103,265 fee for certain H-1B petitions through the formal rulemaking process. This comes after a federal judge blocked the administration’s earlier $100,000… pic.twitter.com/8U9ze1Q2fH

— Marco Hale (@Sunshine_sep13) August 24, 2026

aggie93 said:

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Yet some "Republicans" keep saying "Trump hasn't done anything about immigration and stopping immigrants from taking our jobs!" He's done by far the harshest crackdown on immigration of any President since Coolidge.

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Well, all this is good news and encouraging, but the problem still remains as of today.

Let's celebrate only after the problem has been solved. I am still wary of midterm posturing by the pols who might forget about it after they are done.

I hear (not sure), that this fee is a "rule" not an EO so a judge cannot strike it down. Do you have any more info about this?

javajaws said:

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I applaud his efforts, but Congress really needs to get off its ass and do something to curtail visa abuse.

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Agree.
How can this process be started? Whose responsibility it is to push Congress?

javajaws said:

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I applaud his efforts, but Congress really needs to get off its ass and do something to curtail visa abuse.

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Agreed but that challenging when you have one party (Democrats) who are now the open borders, hate America party and the other party (Republicans) can't be bothered to do much of anything because they are blatant controlled opposition.

Indians hire other Indians. Chinese hire other Chinese. My entire first team at Facebook was Tao, Chen, Chen, Chen, Wang, Wang, Huang, Leung... Other teams were similar, just different races.

So many of them have greencards or citizenships now that fixing H1B won't fix it.

The difference is, earlier Trump did it through EO so he assumed he had the right to impose the "tax". But now he is doing it through rule-making where he argues that Congress gave DHS the right to manage H1B fees and there will be a 30 day public comment and the entire process.

Makes the case stronger. It will be contested in court for sure.

The Trump administration is proposing a new six-figure fee for H-1B visas that would apply to most new applicants, not just those applying from abroad, replacing an earlier plan to charge $100,000 for the visa that was struck down by the courts https://t.co/S8e0Ptwl3x

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 24, 2026

TacoKitKat said:

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Indians hire other Indians. Chinese hire other Chinese. My entire first team at Facebook was Tao, Chen, Chen, Chen, Wang, Wang, Huang, Leung... Other teams were similar, just different races.

So many of them have greencards or citizenships now that fixing H1B won't fix it.

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Meta is a Chinese shop. Microsoft and Amazon are Indian shops.

White shop? There ain't none.

infinity ag said:

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TacoKitKat said:

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Indians hire other Indians. Chinese hire other Chinese. My entire first team at Facebook was Tao, Chen, Chen, Chen, Wang, Wang, Huang, Leung... Other teams were similar, just different races.

So many of them have greencards or citizenships now that fixing H1B won't fix it.

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Meta is a Chinese shop. Microsoft and Amazon are Indian shops.

White shop? There ain't none.

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Well, because that would be "racist" dontchknow

I hope this is true and I hope it holds up.

If we could figure out a way to go after offshoring, that would help too. But for now, H-1B reform would be a great start.

Maybe tackle Chinese student visas next.

I especially love it when immigration lawyers lose their sheet.

but but but... foreign talent... but but but innovation...but but diversity and inclusion... but but

With the proposed OPT fee of $100,000 and the H-1B fee of $$103,265 the total additional fee for a student who transitions from F-1 to H-1B the cost is $203,265. This does not include other filing fees and lawyer fees. This is a deliberate suicidal strategy of
the Trump…

— Cyrus Mehta (@cyrusmehta) August 24, 2026

Or just get rid of the visas altogether? Too simple I suppose.

What about the H2-A and H2-B employees? Any limit or fee on them?

F* Cyrus. There is nothing stupid or absurd about protecting western ideology because whites are the only ones that are going to do it.

TacoKitKat said:

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Indians hire other Indians. Chinese hire other Chinese. My entire first team at Facebook was Tao, Chen, Chen, Chen, Wang, Wang, Huang, Leung... Other teams were similar, just different races.

So many of them have greencards or citizenships now that fixing H1B won't fix it.

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Im the only U.S. citizen (and only Anglo) on a team of about 20, and that ratio holds pretty true through out my job family at work. 80% Indian, 15% Chinese, 5% Anglo (and U.S. citizen). I'm not aware of a single black or Hispanic at all.

But but but what about all the highly talented genius cashiers we need to keep 7-11 running??

Trump will kill all the innovation in this country and will be left behind in the Cashiering tech space.

Here it is

You should get into Oil and Gas

The new H1B rules are up for public comment.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!

https://www.regulations.gov/document/USCIS-2026-0298-0001

Comment here
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/25/2026-17324/fee-for-certain-h-1b-petitions

Example as found on twitter

Elon Musk is one of the top abusers of these visa. As much as I like Musk, Tesla hires nothing but Indians with these visa's for engineering and purchasing. I deal with Tesla for work and every single one of them is Indian, and they are worked like slaves.

They need to fix higher education if they are going to do this. Well over half of the graduate program in Civil Engineering at A&M is international students. Similar trends are present at other state schools. If we are mostly educating folks that will need an H1, why are we surprised when firms need to hire a kid that needs an H1B?

Frisco and Prosper will be lost.

jpd301 said:

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They need to fix higher education if they are going to do this. Well over half of the graduate program in Civil Engineering at A&M is international students. Similar trends are present at other state schools. If we are mostly educating folks that will need an H1, why are we surprised when firms need to hire a kid that needs an H1B?

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Agreed. Universities are in bed with foreigners on every level and it's not a good thing for the country.

“The Trump administration has paused immigrant visa applications worldwide… as it seeks to screen out individuals deemed likely to need US assistance” https://t.co/Bkk3OsnucF pic.twitter.com/4rdwOLF3Oh

— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) August 26, 2026

Make it a 2 year training program.

IDaggie06 said:

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every single one of them is Indian, and they are worked like slaves.

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and the quality still sucks!

javajaws said:

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I applaud his efforts, but Congress really needs to get off its ass and do something to curtail visa abuse.

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This won't happen until everyone in Congress over the age of 50 is dead.

infinity ag said:

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I especially love it when immigration lawyers lose their sheet.

but but but... foreign talent... but but but innovation...but but diversity and inclusion... but but

With the proposed OPT fee of $100,000 and the H-1B fee of $$103,265 the total additional fee for a student who transitions from F-1 to H-1B the cost is $203,265. This does not include other filing fees and lawyer fees. This is a deliberate suicidal strategy of
the Trump…

— Cyrus Mehta (@cyrusmehta) August 24, 2026

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Every single foreigner is crying about this, which means it is absolutely the right thing to do. When you make all of the right people angry, you know you're doing something right.

The Visa abuse will stop. All applications for all Visas are now stopped.

#BREAKING: Trump admin pauses all immigrant visa applications worldwide.

— Insider Wire (@InsiderWire) August 26, 2026

nortex97 said:

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“The Trump administration has paused immigrant visa applications worldwide… as it seeks to screen out individuals deemed likely to need US assistance” https://t.co/Bkk3OsnucF pic.twitter.com/4rdwOLF3Oh

— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) August 26, 2026

Make it a 2 year training program.

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No, stop all of it for an entire generation. We have enough people. We will be just fine with what we have. Afterall we did go to the Moon with just that.

IDaggie06 said:

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Elon Musk is one of the top abusers of these visa. As much as I like Musk, Tesla hires nothing but Indians with these visa's for engineering and purchasing. I deal with Tesla for work and every single one of them is Indian, and they are worked like slaves.

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Yes. When many here were drooling over him during DOGE, I was pointing out that he was a scumbag.
He put out a tweet that he will F anyone who gets in his way of H1B visas and go to war with them. It is still there.

He is just another charlatan who wants to loot America to enrich himself.

ts5641 said:

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Frisco and Prosper will be lost.

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Yes. Those will be ghost towns. But great deals on new houses so keep your money warm.

infinity ag said:

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IDaggie06 said:

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Elon Musk is one of the top abusers of these visa. As much as I like Musk, Tesla hires nothing but Indians with these visa's for engineering and purchasing. I deal with Tesla for work and every single one of them is Indian, and they are worked like slaves.

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Yes. When many here were drooling over him during DOGE, I was pointing out that he was a scumbag.
He put out a tweet that he will F anyone who gets in his way of H1B visas and go to war with them. It is still there.

He is just another charlatan who wants to loot America to enrich himself.

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One thing Musk is very, very good at is hiring, managing and driving an engineering team. And guess what, the Aggie engineering program has an absolute ton of ethnic Indians in it (and whom have graduated from it). He also has a perspective on it that is different because...he came to America on an H1B visa.

And it's not true that all of his companies use predominantly H1B engineers; SPCX in particular is very limited on that front due to ITAR regulations, so I think some of the aspersions cast at him over this are overwrought.

whytho987654 said:

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Other countries are ruthless with their immigration policies, I dont see why so many people here are against this

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because ... "we are a nation of immigrants" you see!

I have had people from so many countries tell me this as justification to be allowed in to live and work. When I point out that their own countries don't have an open door policy, they just say that theirs are not for immigrants.

I really hope to God that all of you filled out Form I-129 correctly and didn't tell the US Government that you're a cap exempt entity when you're really for-profit. I really hope you did that.

Anyway, if I find out that you did... every single one of your Indians is going on… pic.twitter.com/RPYVp5WIGz

— Desi H-1Bhenchods (@desitechsuppoat) August 25, 2026

AI is going to expose all of this fraud.