New H-1B, L-1 Extension Fees Take Effect Sept. 9

U.S. employers that rely heavily on H-1B and L-1 visa workers will soon face an additional cost when extending those employees’ status, potentially adding thousands of dollars to routine filings.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule Aug. 10 expanding the circumstances under which employers must pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee. The rule takes effect Sept. 9 and will require certain employers to pay the fee on all H-1B and L-1 extension-of-stay petitions, even when there are no substantive changes to the job.

The fee applies to employers with at least 50 U.S. employees when more than half of their workforce is in H-1B or L-1 status. For covered employers, the fee is $4,000 for an H-1B petition and $4,500 for an L-1 petition.

Specialty Credential: U.S. Employment Immigration

“Until now, that fee was owed only on new employment and change of employer petitions. A routine extension filed by the same employer for the same worker did not trigger it,” said Emily Neumann, an immigration attorney at Reddy Neumann Brown in Houston.

Currently, covered employers generally pay the fee for new employment and change-of-employer petitions when a separate fraud prevention and detection fee is also required.

That changes under the new rule. DHS is interpreting the underlying statute as permitting the fee to apply regardless of whether the fraud fee is required, expanding it to all extension-of-stay petitions filed by covered employers.

For HR and global mobility professionals, the change creates immediate workforce-planning considerations.

“The rule is not retroactive and does not reach pending petitions. Anything filed before the effective date is safe,” Neumann said.

That creates a potentially significant opportunity for employers with upcoming visa extensions.

“H-1B extensions can generally be filed up to six months ahead,” Neumann said. “If you are a covered employer with extensions coming due through early 2027, moving those filings up now avoids the fee entirely. For a company filing ten extensions, that is $40,000 in potential filing fee savings.”

Employers should therefore work with immigration counsel to identify affected employees, determine which extensions are eligible for early filing and assess the financial impact of the rule on workforce plans and immigration budgets.

Not every filing will be subject to the expanded fee. Amended petitions that do not request an extension of stay remain exempt.

The fee itself was established by Congress in 2015 to fund biometric entry and exit programs created for national security purposes. It is currently scheduled to sunset Sept. 30, 2027, unless Congress extends it.