H-1B Visa Cost 2026: How Much Does It Really Cost to Sponsor an H-1B Worker?

How much does an H-1B visa cost? For a regular employer, a new cap-subject H-1B petition costs $3,545 online in USCIS fees — $6,510 with premium processing. A small for-profit employer pays $2,225 (a small nonprofit that owes ACWIA pays $1,925 for a new cap-subject petition). A university or research nonprofit filing a cap-exempt petition pays $960. Those are the real 2026 figures from USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26 — not estimates. The $3,545 is the employer's budget for this example. A worker applying at a U.S. consulate generally pays a $205 visa application fee. This guide breaks down every fee, shows the arithmetic for each employer type and each petition type — new, transfer, extension, amendment — explains who pays what by law, and covers dependents, payment rules, and the 2026 fee changes that are actually in effect, blocked, or only proposed.

How much does an H-1B visa cost? The short answer

There is no single H-1B visa cost, because the total depends on three things: the size and type of the employer, the kind of petition, and whether premium processing is used. A regular employer filing a brand-new cap-subject petition pays $3,545 online. The same petition from a small for-profit employer costs $2,225 (a small nonprofit that owes ACWIA pays $1,925 for a new cap-subject petition). A transfer to a new employer costs $3,330 for a regular employer. A first extension costs $2,830. A second or later extension costs $1,330. And a bare amendment — one that does not extend stay — costs $1,330.

Premium processing adds a flat $2,965 to any of those totals. It buys speed, not a better outcome: USCIS guarantees an action within 15 business days, not an approval. The $100,000 payment is not in any of these totals — it is blocked by court orders and not currently collected — and neither is the proposed $103,265 fee, which has no final rule and no effective date.

The table below is the whole guide in miniature. Every figure in it is built up, fee by fee, in the sections that follow — so if you only need one number, take it here, and if you need to defend it in a budget meeting, the arithmetic is two sections down.

Two warnings before you use these numbers. First, standard employers pay $50 more to file Form I-129 on paper. For small employers and nonprofits, the base fee is $460 either way. Second, several older guides still show the pre-March 2026 premium fee of $2,805 or omit the Asylum Program Fee entirely. Both are wrong against the current G-1055, edition 10/26/26.

Every H-1B fee, in one table

The table below lists eight fees and explains when each one applies. None of them is optional except premium processing.

One figure deserves a note: some sites list the small-employer I-129 base fee online as $410 — the $50 online discount applied to the $460 rate. Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26, lists it as $460 online, the same as paper. The $410 figure is refuted by the primary source, and every total in this guide uses $460.

The other common error is the missing Asylum Program Fee. Several older guides quote a regular-employer total of $2,460 — the pre-2024 figure, from before the fee existed. The 2024 USCIS fee rule (89 FR 6194, effective April 1, 2024) added the $600/$300/$0 Asylum Program Fee to every I-129, raised the standard base fee from $460 to $780, and raised the registration fee from $10 to $215. Any total that omits the asylum fee is out of date.

Total H-1B cost by employer type

The fee table above is the parts list. This section is the assembled price — the full cost of a new cap-subject petition for each kind of employer, with every component shown so you can check the arithmetic yourself. All totals are online filing. Standard employers pay $50 more to file Form I-129 on paper; for small employers and nonprofits, the base fee is $460 either way.

Read the arithmetic columns left to right: registration, I-129 base fee, Asylum Program Fee, ACWIA fee, Fraud Prevention fee. The $4,000 covered-employer fee is shown as a separate add-on because most employers are not covered — folding it into the headline total would overstate the cost for the large majority of sponsors.

Figure: the $3,545 cost of a new cap-subject petition for a regular employer, split by fee. Source: USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26.

Regular employers carry the full load: every fee at the standard rate. The ACWIA training fee alone is $1,500 — 42% of the total. A regular employer that meets the 50/50 covered-employer test adds $4,000, taking a new cap petition to $7,545, or $10,510 with premium processing. That is the most expensive realistic first petition in the system.

Small employers — 25 or fewer full-time employees — pay less at every step: a $460 base fee instead of $730, a $300 Asylum Program Fee instead of $600, and a $750 ACWIA fee instead of $1,500, saving $1,320 on a new cap petition. Headcount counts affiliates and subsidiaries, so a nominally small company inside a large group may not qualify.

Nonprofits split into two very different cases, and most guides blur them. A generic 501(c)(3) charity gets the $460 base fee and the $0 Asylum Program Fee — but it still owes the ACWIA fee unless it also fits one of the six exempt categories, so an ordinary nonprofit with 26 or more employees pays $2,675 for a cap-subject new petition (a small one pays $1,925). An ACWIA-exempt nonprofit — a university, an affiliated nonprofit, a nonprofit or government research organization, a primary or secondary school, or a nonprofit running curriculum-related clinical training — pays $0 ACWIA, and $960 in total if it is also cap-exempt. Check the exemption category before budgeting, not the tax status.

Cap-exempt employers — institutions of higher education, their affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations — skip the lottery entirely: no $215 registration fee, no March window, filings accepted year-round. That is why the lowest initial-petition total shown here is a cap-exempt university filing at $960.

How much does an H-1B transfer cost?

A transfer — legally a change of employer — is a new petition filed by the new employer. There is no lottery and no $215 registration fee, because the worker has already been counted against the cap. But the new employer pays as if it were a first petition with that employer: the ACWIA fee applies, and the fraud fee applies, because both attach to change-of-employer petitions. One condition: this assumes the worker was previously counted against the cap. A worker whose only H-1B employment has been cap-exempt — for example, at a university — may still face the cap when moving to a cap-subject employer, if no other exemption applies.

The transfer total is $215 lower than the equivalent new cap petition — exactly the registration fee that does not apply. A regular employer pays $3,330 to hire an H-1B worker away from another sponsor, or $6,295 with premium processing. Note that the $100,000 proclamation payment does not apply to a transfer granted inside the US — and it is blocked in any event.

H-1B extension and amendment costs

Extensions and amendments are where employers most often overpay, because two fees drop off — and one of them drops off only after the first extension. The fraud fee never applies to a same-employer extension. The ACWIA fee applies to the first extension for a given worker with a given employer, and then stops: a second or later extension with the same employer owes no ACWIA fee. That rule comes from the Instructions for Form I-129 (edition 09/09/26), which exempt a second or subsequent request for an extension of stay.

Add $2,965 for premium processing to any row. The covered-employer column adds the $4,000 Public Law 114-113 fee, which has applied to all extension-of-stay petitions — including same-employer extensions — since September 9, 2026. Before that date it applied only to initial and change-of-employer petitions. One more consequence of the first-vs-later rule: a regular employer's second extension costs less than half of its first — $1,330 against $2,830 — because the $1,500 ACWIA fee is gone.

For a standard employer filing online, a bare amendment costs $1,330, the same as a second or later extension in this example. A bare amendment — one that changes the job, the location, or another material term without requesting an extension of stay — costs the base fee plus the Asylum Program Fee only. No ACWIA, no fraud fee, and no $4,000 fee even at a covered employer.

An amendment with an extension of stay is priced as an extension: the totals in the extension table above, with ACWIA due if this is the first extension for this worker with this employer, and the $4,000 fee due if the employer is covered — because an extension is being requested. Whether a change needs an amendment at all depends on the facts; the H-1B amendment checker walks through the seven questions that decide it.

Who pays the H-1B fees — employer or employee?

This is the section that matters most to workers, and the one most guides get wrong. H-1B is an employer petition: the employer files it, and the employer pays for it. But the law draws three different lines. Some fees can never be charged to the worker in any form. Others are the employer's business expenses, which can only be shifted to the worker if the worker's pay stays at or above the required wage. And one fee — premium processing — is genuinely flexible, within limits.

The wage-floor rule is what does the real work. Under 20 CFR 655.731, the employer must pay the required wage — the higher of the actual wage paid to similarly employed workers at the worksite and the prevailing wage for the occupation and area, as attested on the Labor Condition Application. Deductions fall into three buckets. Prohibited deductions — the ACWIA fee in any part, the $500 fraud fee in any part, and any penalty for failing to complete the employment period — are never allowed, at any wage level. Business-expense deductions — petition attorney fees and filing costs — are allowed only if pay after the deduction stays at or above the required wage. Authorized deductions — required by law, reasonable and customary, or voluntarily authorized in writing by the worker, principally for the worker's benefit — are allowed only if they meet all the conditions in 20 CFR 655.731(c)(9)(iii), including that they are not a recoupment of a business expense.

A third party does not launder a prohibited shift: an employer cannot have a staffing firm or agent front a fee and then have the worker repay it, if the substance is the worker bearing an employer cost. Repayment-on-leaving clauses tied to petition costs are the fact pattern in DOL enforcement cases.

If you are a worker and an employer or agent asks you to pay the ACWIA fee, the fraud fee, or the petition filing fees — or to sign a repayment agreement covering them — that is the point to stop and get independent advice. The Instructions for Form I-129 say it plainly about ACWIA: the fee may not be assessed to the beneficiary.

Dependents and family costs

The petition fees above cover the principal worker only. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 in H-4 status add their own costs, and the cheapest way to pay them depends on whether the family is abroad or inside the US — and, inside the US, on whether they file on paper or online.

At a consulate abroad: $205 per dependent

Every H-4 dependent who needs a visa stamp pays the $205 petition-based MRV fee — the principal pays $205 too, so a family of four (one principal, one spouse, two children) pays $820 in MRV fees. Some nationalities also owe a reciprocity fee when the visa is issued. For the two nationalities that matter most to H-1B families, there is none: the State Department's reciprocity schedules list the H-4 fee as None for both India and China, and the H-1B fee as None for both as well. The only difference is validity: an Indian H-4 visa is issued for multiple entries over 35 months, a Chinese H-4 for multiple entries over 12 months. In both cases, a derivative H-4 visa cannot outlast the principal worker's visa.

Source: US Department of State, Visa Reciprocity and Civil Documents by Country — India and China schedules, checked November 5, 2026. For any other nationality, check that country's schedule before budgeting: reciprocity fees are the one genuinely country-varying H-1B cost.

Inside the US: one paper fee covers the whole family

Inside the US, dependents extend or change to H-4 status on Form I-539. The fee is $470 on paper and $420 online — but the paper fee is per application, not per person. A family files one I-539, and each co-applicant files a Form I-539A at $0 additional fee. The spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be co-applicants only if they are all now in the same status or all in derivative status — H-4 families qualify; mixed-status families cannot file together. Each co-applicant completes a separate signed I-539A; a parent or guardian signs for a child under 14.

H-4 work permits: $520 paper, spouse only

An H-4 EAD — Form I-765, category (c)(26) — costs $520 on paper per application, and only a spouse can get one; H-4 children cannot. Category (c)(26) cannot be filed online — USCIS's online system does not accept it — so the $470 online I-765 rate does not apply to this category; budget for the paper fee. Eligibility is not automatic: the H-1B spouse must have an approved Form I-140, or hold H-1B status beyond the six-year limit under AC21. Each EAD is paid for again on renewal. There is no premium processing for an H-4 I-539 or a (c)(26) I-765, and the principal's premium processing does not speed up dependents' cases. The full process is in our H-4 EAD guide.

Put together, a family inside the US pays $990 on paper for the whole package: $470 for the I-539 covering the family, plus $520 for the spouse's EAD. A single applicant filing online pays $940 — $420 for the I-539 online plus $520 for the paper I-765 — in two separate filings, since (c)(26) cannot be filed online and the two forms cannot be filed together online. There is no separate biometrics fee for Form I-539 in the current fee schedule. For the full H-4 journey, see our H-4 visa guide.

Premium processing: is it worth $2,965?

Premium processing — Form I-907 — costs $2,965, in effect since March 1, 2026, when it rose from $2,805 under the DHS inflation-adjustment rule (91 FR 1059). It is the only optional fee in this guide, and the only one whose value depends entirely on timing.

What it buys is a clock, not an outcome. USCIS guarantees an action within 15 business days of receiving a properly filed I-907: an approval, a denial, a Request for Evidence, or a Notice of Intent to Deny. An RFE or a NOID counts as an action — and it stops the clock. A fresh 15-business-day period starts when USCIS receives the response. Premium processing does not change the odds of approval. It does not make a weak petition strong, and it does not protect a petition from an RFE. It only makes the answer come faster.

If USCIS takes no qualifying action within the period, the $2,965 is refunded and the case continues on the premium track. There is one exception: no refund is due if USCIS has opened a fraud or misrepresentation investigation. The fee cannot be waived. A separate Form I-907 must be filed for each petition, and the premium fee must be paid separately from the underlying petition fee — combining them is one of the classic rejection traps, covered in the payment section below.

Premium processing may be worth the $2,965 when an employer needs a faster USCIS action. For an eligible H-1B transfer, the worker may be able to start the new job after the employer files a qualifying petition. Check whether portability applies before budgeting for premium processing solely to meet a start date. When is it not? When the petition is likely to draw an RFE anyway — a complex specialty-occupation case, a third-party worksite, a wage-level dispute — because the RFE stops the clock and the $2,965 buys very little. It is also poor value on a straightforward extension filed six months early, where regular processing has time to finish.

One more limit: premium processing covers the petition only. It does not speed up a dependent's I-539 or H-4 EAD, and there is no premium option for those filings in the ordinary sense. A family that pays $2,965 for the principal's petition should not expect the dependents' cases to move at the same speed.

How to pay USCIS fees in 2026

The amount is only half the problem. Since October 28, 2025, how you pay matters as much as how much you pay. Paper filings are now electronic-only: USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier's checks for paper-filed forms, unless the filer qualifies for a specific exemption. The two standard paper methods are Form G-1450, authorization for a credit card transaction, or Form G-1650, authorization for an ACH debit from a US bank account. A paper payment at all requires Form G-1651, certifying that electronic payment is not possible. Cash is never accepted. The change comes from USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-19, implementing Executive Order 14247. Online filings are paid through the USCIS online account or Pay.gov by card or ACH at submission.

Separate payments are the rule, not the exception. Premium processing must be paid separately from the underlying petition — a separate Form I-907 with its own payment authorization. Each form filed together with an H-1B petition needs its own payment instrument: a co-filed I-539, I-765, or I-824 cannot ride on the I-129's payment. The proclamation payment, when it was in effect, was separate again — paid through pay.gov before filing, with proof submitted with the petition. USCIS's own H-1B filing checklist (Form M-735) states its preference for a separate check for each fee, and warns that a single combined check gets the petition rejected if any fee does not apply or is incorrect. That guidance is written for checks. Card and ACH payments follow the electronic-payment methods in the paragraph above — a card authorization through Form G-1450, an ACH authorization through Form G-1650, or pay.gov for online filings. The safest practice is therefore a separate payment for each fee, in whichever form that fee is paid — even though the I-129 Instructions themselves contain no separate-payment rule for these three fees.

What happens if the wrong fee is paid

USCIS rejects the entire package and returns it. There is no top-up request and no chance to fix the amount in place. The filing date is lost, which can matter for a status gap, a cap filing window, or a premium clock — and the case must be refiled with a new, correct payment. Even a $1 difference is treated as an incorrect fee. A declined card or a failed or blocked ACH has the same effect as a wrong fee: rejection. Check available credit and ACH blocks before mailing. An I-907 postmarked on or after March 1, 2026 with the old $2,805 premium fee is rejected, and the petition reverts to regular processing.

Which fees are refundable

2026 fee changes: in effect, blocked, or only proposed

Most of the confusion about H-1B costs in 2026 comes from treating three different things as one fee hike. They are not. One is blocked by the courts. One is only a proposal. One is a real expansion that took effect on September 9, 2026. This section is the dated status board — the only news-driven part of this guide. Everything else here is evergreen.

The $100,000 payment: blocked, not collected

Proclamation 10973, signed September 19, 2025, imposed a $100,000 payment on certain new H-1B petitions. It has not been collected since the courts intervened: on June 8, 2026, the District of Massachusetts vacated the implementing guidance in California v. Mullin, and on September 30, 2026, the Northern District of California preliminarily enjoined enforcement under both proclamations in Global Nurse Force v. Trump (September 30, 2026 order). The government appealed to the Ninth Circuit on October 9, 2026 (No. 26-6667), and the same day asked the district court to pause its proceedings while the appeal is pending. The hearing on that stay request is set for January 14, 2027. USCIS has said it will comply with the court orders — and that it still plans to collect the payment if the orders are lifted.

The courts have not all agreed. In December 2025, the District of Columbia upheld the proclamation in Chamber of Commerce v. DHS; that ruling is on appeal to the D.C. Circuit, which heard argument on March 9, 2026 and has not yet ruled. The payment is not being collected while the blocking orders stand.

Even when it was in effect, the payment did not touch every petition. It applied to new petitions for workers outside the US without a valid H-1B visa, and to petitions USCIS found ineligible — not to petitions filed before September 21, 2025, not to travel by current H-1B holders, and not to in-US change-of-status, amendment, or extension petitions that USCIS granted. The only exception was an extraordinarily rare national-interest finding by the Secretary of Homeland Security. The full timeline, scope, and court status live on our H-1B $100K fee status page — this guide does not duplicate it.

The $103,265 fee: a proposal, not a bill

On August 25, 2026, DHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking (91 FR 54817, Docket USCIS-2026-0298) that would add a $103,265 fee to cap-subject H-1B petitions at filing — including the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption — on top of every existing fee. Comments closed September 24, 2026. There is no final rule and no effective date. Nothing is owed.

Two scope points matter. First, cap-exempt petitions are not covered — universities, affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations would not pay it. Second, transfers are covered only when the petition is cap-subject. A transfer by a worker who was already counted against the cap is not a cap-subject petition, so on the best available reading the fee would not apply to it. But a worker who was never counted — for example, someone moving from a cap-exempt employer to a cap-subject employer — is filing a cap-subject petition, so the fee would apply to them if the rule is finalized as proposed. That second point is labelled honestly here: it comes from a law-firm summary of the proposal (Legal500), not from the Federal Register text itself, which does not use the word “transfer.” Treat it as the best available reading, not as a quoted rule.

If both the $100,000 payment and the $103,265 fee ever took effect together, the proposal says its fee applies in addition to any proclamation payment — which is where the $203,265 figure in press coverage comes from. Today that stack is theoretical: neither fee is payable, so the combined figure is $0. Budget it as a contingency — for example, a contract clause or an escrow arrangement — not as a line in a cost total.

The 9-11 fee expansion: the one real 2026 increase

The only 2026 fee expansion actually in effect for H-1B is the Public Law 114-113 fee. A DHS final rule published August 10, 2026 (91 FR 51360), effective September 9, 2026, extended the $4,000 fee to all extension-of-stay petitions at covered employers — including same-employer extensions, which previously escaped it. Before that date, covered employers paid it only on initial and change-of-employer petitions. Bare amendments — those not seeking an extension — remain exempt. The fee sunsets for petitions filed after September 30, 2027, unless Congress extends it. USCIS confirmed the change on its I-129 page, and issued a new I-129 edition, 09/09/26, the same day.

The Visa Integrity Fee: legislated, not collected

The $250 Visa Integrity Fee was created by statute (Pub. L. 119-21) and would apply at visa issuance, on top of the $205 MRV fee, if implemented. As of checks from October 25 to November 2, 2026, it does not appear on the State Department's Fees for Visa Services schedule, and no collection start date has been published. Some guides present it as already payable — that is not supported by the schedule. Treat $250 per visa as a contingency, and never add it to a headline total.

How fees got here: the 2024 rule

The current fee structure dates to the USCIS fee schedule final rule published January 31, 2024 (89 FR 6194), effective April 1, 2024 — the first comprehensive USCIS fee adjustment since 2016. It raised the I-129 base fee from $460 to $780 for standard employers (the old $460 rate became the small-employer and nonprofit rate), raised the registration fee from $10 to $215 (deferred to the FY2026 cap season), created the Asylum Program Fee, introduced the $50 online filing discount, and changed the premium processing clock from 15 calendar days to 15 business days. The ACWIA fee, the fraud fee, and the $4,000 fee are statutory and were not moved by that rule. A regular employer's core petition cost went from $2,460 before the rule to $3,380 on paper after it — $3,595 with registration, $3,545 online.

Are any countries charged a higher H-1B fee?

USCIS petition fees do not vary by nationality. At the consulate, applicants generally pay the $205 H visa application fee, and an additional visa issuance fee may depend on nationality.

Searchers ask for three reasons. First, impact is concentrated even though the rule is neutral: in FY2024, 71% of approved H-1B petitions were for India-born beneficiaries and 11.7% were for China-born beneficiaries. These figures show the share of approved petitions by birthplace. The fee does not charge Indians more. Second, fee stories get mixed up with travel restrictions. Entry-restriction proclamations list countries — Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Yemen, and others — but those are separate measures that do not set H-1B fees. A fee is not a travel ban. Third, the one genuinely country-varying H-1B cost is the reciprocity fee at consulates — small, post-specific, and unrelated to the headlines. For India and China it is None for both H-1B and H-4.

Is the H-1B worth the cost?

For most employers, the arithmetic is short. A regular employer pays $3,545 in government fees for a new cap petition — $6,510 with premium processing — against a worker whose median H-1B offered wage across listed sponsors is about $120,500. That median is taken across the 1,110 listed sponsors' own FY2026 median wages, not across every individual filing. The fee is a fraction of one month's pay for the role it fills. The costs that actually break a sponsorship budget are not the USCIS fees: attorney fees, which are separate and vary by firm, and the cost of delay — a missed start date, a status gap, or a second lottery season.

For the worker, the calculation is different. The worker does not pay the petition fees — the employer does, by law — but pays the $205 consular fee, travel, and the opportunity cost of the process. What the worker gets is access to US salaries and the green-card path: an approved I-140 is what eventually unlocks an H-4 spouse's work permit and extensions beyond the six-year H-1B limit. Whether that trade is worth it depends on the salary on offer and the sponsor's record. Our H-1B salary database guide shows the wages sponsors report offering, and the sponsor pages show each employer's filing volume and LCA certification rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an H-1B visa cost in total?

For a regular employer, a new cap-subject petition costs $3,545 online ($3,595 on paper), or $6,510 with premium processing. A small for-profit employer pays $2,225 (a small nonprofit that owes ACWIA pays $1,925 for a new cap-subject petition). A university or ACWIA-exempt nonprofit filing a cap-exempt petition pays $960. Those totals are USCIS fees only — attorney fees are separate, and the blocked $100,000 payment and the proposed $103,265 fee are not in them.

Who pays H-1B fees — the employer or the employee?

The employer files the petition and pays the petition fees. The worker can never pay any part of the ACWIA training fee or the $500 fraud fee, in any form — not directly, not by deduction, not by reimbursement, and not through a third party. Other petition costs are the employer's business expenses and cannot be shifted to the worker if they would push pay below the required wage. The worker normally pays only personal costs: the $205 consular fee, travel, and dependents' applications.

Can my employer make me pay back H-1B fees if I leave?

Not the ACWIA fee or the fraud fee, and not any petition cost through a penalty clause or a wage deduction that breaches the required wage. Repayment clauses tied to petition costs are the fact pattern in DOL enforcement cases, and an employer that enforces one risks back-wage liability, civil money penalties, and debarment. If you are asked to sign one, get independent advice before signing.

Can I pay for premium processing myself?

Only if the speedup is genuinely for your personal benefit — not your employer's deadline — and you voluntarily authorize it in writing under the DOL test in 20 CFR 655.731(c)(9)(iii). An offer letter that makes you pay does not count as voluntary. If the employer needs the speed for business reasons, the employer pays.

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect?

No. As of November 5, 2026, it is blocked by a Massachusetts court's vacatur of the implementing guidance (June 8, 2026) and a California preliminary injunction (September 30, 2026), and it is not being collected. The government has appealed, and USCIS says it still plans to collect the payment if the orders are lifted. The full timeline is on our H-1B $100K fee status page.

Is the $103,265 H-1B fee in effect?

No. It is a proposed rule published August 25, 2026 (91 FR 54817, Docket USCIS-2026-0298). Comments closed September 24, 2026, and no final rule or effective date has been published. Nothing is owed. It would apply to cap-subject petitions only, not to cap-exempt petitions — and, on the best available secondary reading, not to a transfer by a worker who was already counted against the cap. A never-counted worker moving to a cap-subject employer would be filing a cap-subject petition, so the fee would apply to them if the rule is finalized as proposed.

How much does an H-1B transfer cost?

A regular employer pays $3,330 online ($3,380 on paper), or $6,295 with premium processing. A small for-profit employer pays $2,010 (a small nonprofit pays $1,710). An ACWIA-exempt nonprofit pays $960. There is no $215 registration fee on a transfer, because the worker has already been counted against the cap — that assumes a previously counted worker. If the worker's only H-1B employment was cap-exempt and never counted, the cap may still apply. The transfer section above breaks the totals down by employer type.

How much does an H-1B extension cost?

A first extension for a regular employer costs $2,830 online; a second or later extension costs $1,330, because the ACWIA fee drops off after the first extension. A small for-profit employer pays $1,510 for a first extension and $760 for a second or later one (a small nonprofit pays $1,210 for a first extension). A covered employer adds $4,000 to either, under the September 9, 2026 expansion. Premium processing adds $2,965 to any row.

Does an H-1B amendment cost the same as an extension?

No. A bare amendment — one that does not request an extension of stay — costs $1,330 online for a regular employer, $760 for a small employer, and $460 for a nonprofit: base fee plus Asylum Program Fee only. An amendment with an extension is priced as an extension, with ACWIA due if it is the first extension for that worker with that employer, and the $4,000 fee due if the employer is covered.

Do small employers and nonprofits pay less?

Yes, but differently. A small for-profit employer (25 or fewer full-time employees) pays a $460 base fee, a $300 Asylum Program Fee, and a $750 ACWIA fee. A nonprofit pays a $460 base fee and a $0 Asylum Program Fee — but it still owes the ACWIA fee unless it fits one of the six exempt categories (higher education, affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit or government research, primary and secondary schools, and clinical-training nonprofits). An ordinary nonprofit with 26 or more employees that is not exempt pays $2,675 for a cap-subject new petition, against $1,175 for an exempt one. A small ordinary nonprofit pays $1,925 for the same petition.

What is the H-1B registration fee, and is it refunded if I am not selected?

The registration fee is $215 per beneficiary, paid by the employer in the March registration window for cap-subject petitions. It is never refunded — not if the beneficiary is not selected, and not if duplicate registrations are invalidated. It is also charged only once, at registration; a selected beneficiary's petition does not carry a second registration fee.

How much is premium processing in 2026, and what does it guarantee?

Premium processing costs $2,965 since March 1, 2026, up from $2,805. It guarantees a USCIS action — approval, denial, RFE, or NOID — within 15 business days, not an approval. An RFE or NOID stops the clock, and a new 15-business-day period starts on the response. The fee is refunded only if USCIS takes no qualifying action in time, and not if a fraud or misrepresentation investigation is opened.

What happens if I pay the wrong USCIS fee?

USCIS rejects the entire package and returns it. There is no top-up. The filing date is lost, which can matter for a status gap or a cap filing window, and the case must be refiled with a new, correct payment. Even a $1 difference counts as an incorrect fee, and a declined card or failed ACH has the same effect as a wrong fee.

How much does an H-4 visa cost?

At a consulate abroad, $205 per dependent — the MRV fee, with no reciprocity fee for Indian or Chinese nationals. Inside the US, one $470 paper Form I-539 covers a whole family on Form I-539A forms; filing online costs $420 per person, because online I-539 accepts a single applicant only — a family of three pays $1,260 online against $470 on paper. An H-4 EAD for a qualifying spouse costs $520 on paper. Category (c)(26) cannot be filed online. See our H-4 visa guide and H-4 EAD guide.

Are any countries charged a higher H-1B fee?

USCIS petition fees do not vary by nationality. At the consulate, applicants generally pay the $205 H visa application fee, and an additional visa issuance fee may depend on nationality. India is the most affected country by volume — about 71% of FY2024 H-1B approvals — not by a different rate.

Sources

• USCIS — Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/26/26, page last updated October 28, 2026) — registration, I-129 base and small/nonprofit rates, Asylum Program Fee, ACWIA and fraud fees, premium processing, I-539 and I-765 amounts, and the $4,000 fee. The primary source for every figure in this guide.
• USCIS — Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker — the September 9, 2026 fee expansion, the $100,000 payment status, the I-129 edition 09/09/26, and the online-filing note. Instructions for Form I-129 (edition 09/09/26): ACWIA first-extension exemptions, the “may not be assessed to the beneficiary” rule, and the covered-employer test.
• USCIS — Optional Checklist for Form I-129 H-1B Filings (Form M-735) — states USCIS's preference for a separate check for each fee, and warns that a combined check gets the petition rejected if any fee does not apply or is incorrect. The checklist's language is check-specific; card and ACH payments follow the fee schedule's How to Pay instructions (Forms G-1450 and G-1650, pay.gov).
• Instructions for Form I-907 (edition 04/01/24) — premium processing as a separate form and separate payment, the 15-day action clock, the RFE/NOID restart, and the refund rule with the fraud-investigation exception.
• USCIS — Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status — filing fee schedule and instructions. Instructions for Form I-539 (edition 08/28/24): who may be a co-applicant and the same-status-or-derivative-status condition. USCIS “Check Your Eligibility to File Form I-539 Online”: online filing for yourself without co-applicants only, and the paper-single-fee vs online-per-application family rule.
• USCIS — Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers, Fiscal Year 2024, Table 4a — approved H-1B petitions by country of birth: India 283,755 (71%), China 46,722 (11.7%); 399,378 total approvals.
• Federal Register — 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas (Doc. 2026-16231, August 10, 2026, effective September 9, 2026; 91 FR 51360) — the extension of the $4,000 fee to extension-of-stay petitions.
• Federal Register — Adjustment to Premium Processing Fees (91 FR 1059, January 12, 2026, effective March 1, 2026) — premium processing $2,805 to $2,965.
• Federal Register — Fee for Certain H-1B Petitions, notice of proposed rulemaking (91 FR 54817, Docket USCIS-2026-0298, August 25, 2026; comments closed September 24, 2026) — the $103,265 proposal. No final rule has been published.
• Federal Register — 2026 civil money penalty inflation-adjustment rule (91 FR 31358) and the 2024 USCIS fee schedule final rule (89 FR 6194, effective April 1, 2024) — penalty tiers and the 2024 fee history.
• Proclamation 10973 (September 19, 2025) and Proclamation 11069 (September 18, 2026) — the $100,000 payment and its extension to September 21, 2027. Full court timeline on our H-1B $100K fee status page.
• US Department of Labor — Fact Sheet 62H (prohibited and authorized wage deductions) and Fact Sheet 62U (enforcement authority, civil money penalties, debarment) — the who-pays rules and the penalty tiers in this guide.
• UC San Diego International Services — H-4 Family Resources — category (c)(26) for the H-4 EAD is not eligible to file Form I-765 online; the paper I-765 fee is $520.
• US Department of State — Visa Reciprocity Schedule, China — H-1B and H-4 reciprocity fee None, multiple entries, 12 months. US Department of State — Visa Reciprocity Schedule, India — H-1B and H-4 reciprocity fee None, multiple entries, 35 months. Both schedules checked November 5, 2026.
• US Department of State — Fees for Visa Services — the $205 petition-based MRV fee.
• USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-19 (August 29, 2025), implementing Executive Order 14247 — electronic-only payment for paper filings from October 28, 2025 (Forms G-1450, G-1650, G-1651).
• Global Nurse Force v. Trump, No. 4:25-cv-08454 (N.D. Cal.) — order granting in part the preliminary injunction on September 30, 2026 (2026 WL 2972985): the agency policies implementing the $100,000 payment were vacated and their enforcement enjoined under both proclamations.
• Secondary source, labelled as such: a Legal500 summary of the $103,265 proposal, for the single point that the proposal's scope turns on whether the petition is cap-subject — so a transfer by a previously counted worker is outside it, while a never-counted worker moving to a cap-subject employer is inside it. The Federal Register text of the proposal does not use the word “transfer,” so this point is presented as a secondary-source reading, not as a quoted rule.
• VisaTalentUSA’s own analysis of U.S. Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (FY2024–FY2026) — the median offered wage across listed sponsors, about $120,500 — the median of the listed sponsors' FY2026 median offered wages (1,110 employers; 243,729 FY2026 filings), used in the “Is the H-1B worth the cost?” section.
• VisaTalentUSA — H-1B LCA filing guide — how the Labor Condition Application behind every fee in this guide works.

Published: November 5, 2026. Status last checked: November 5, 2026. Fees, filing addresses, and processing times change — confirm them on the linked USCIS and State Department pages before filing. Not legal advice — consult an immigration attorney for your case.