A major technology industry group representing companies including Apple, Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic is urging the Trump administration to withdraw its proposed $103,265 fee on certain H-1B visa petitions.
TechNet submitted its comments to the Department of Homeland Security on September 24, arguing that the proposed fee could create a major cost barrier for U.S. companies seeking to hire highly skilled foreign workers.
The group’s intervention comes as the Trump administration continues to tighten rules around the H-1B program, which allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialized jobs.
“This proposal undermines the president’s championing of American global competitiveness,” TechNet wrote in its comments.
TechNet also argued that U.S. companies need access to international talent to maintain their position in areas including artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
READ: Proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee puts international graduates’ US careers at risk (September 24, 2026)
The DHS proposal, published in August, would impose a $103,265 supplemental fee on H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap. That includes petitions eligible for the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption. The agency estimates that the fee could generate about $8.8 billion annually based on an estimated 85,000 cap-subject petitions.
The proposed fee would be separate from other H-1B filing fees and would be based on a different legal authority than the administration’s separate $100,000 H-1B payment requirement.
The White House has argued that stricter H-1B policies are necessary to address what it describes as abuse of the program, including the use of lower-paid foreign workers to displace U.S. workers.
On September 18, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to consider whether an H-1B sponsoring employer has recently laid off, or plans to lay off, similarly situated U.S. workers when reviewing H-1B applications and related filings.
The administration has also extended for another year a separate restriction requiring a $100,000 payment for certain H-1B workers entering the United States. The White House said more than 700 petitions had involved the payment since the requirement was introduced in September 2025.
That $100,000 requirement is separate from the newly proposed $103,265 DHS fee. The two measures also rely on different legal authorities. A federal judge in Massachusetts vacated the guidance implementing the $100,000 payment in June, and the government appealed the decision. DHS acknowledged the pending litigation in its proposed rule.
READ: US to charge $4,000 H-1B, $4,500 L-1 fees for certain visa extensions (August 10, 2026)
The White House has pointed to changes in H-1B filing patterns as evidence of the impact of its restrictions. According to a September 18 administration fact sheet, registrations from the largest IT outsourcing firms have fallen 92% since the 2025 restrictions took effect.
TechNet, however, said the proposed $103,265 fee could particularly affect technology startups and smaller businesses that rely on specialized workers.
The organization said the additional cost could make it harder for American companies to recruit the workers needed for continued innovation.
The debate comes as the technology industry faces an ongoing demand for specialized workers in areas such as artificial intelligence.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has previously warned about the global competition for AI talent and said restrictive U.S. immigration policies could affect America’s ability to attract researchers and engineers.
The DHS comment period for the proposed H-1B fee closed Thursday, September 24. The department will review the submitted comments before deciding whether to move forward with the proposal.