An application for the H1B visa must be sponsored by the company employing the immigrant. Under the current norms, the H1B visa fee has increased multi-folder.
Currently, the filing fees are around $100,000, while an immigration lawyer charges between $500 – $3,000. The employer must also prove that they have sufficient funds to pay the applicant’s salary for a certain period of time.
In this article, we discuss the current H1B visa fee, the number of H-1B holders in the US and other such information about the work visa.
Read: US Visa Changes For Indians – New Rules, Key Updates And What Still Applies
While getting a job in the USA may be easy, getting the H1B visa that allows non-citizens to stay and work in the country is difficult for most people. The H1 visa may be the most popular visa for immigrants moving to the USA but it is also the hardest to get.
As the USA tightens its immigration norms, getting an H1B visa is set to become harder still. The US administration recently proposed a hike in the application fees for the H1B visa.
According to TOI, as of 2025, there are an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 H-1B visa holders in the country. Here is a country-wise snapshot.
| Country | Number of H-1B Holders | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| India | 283,397 | 71% |
| China | 46,680 | 11.70% |
| Philippines | 5,248 | 1.30% |
| Canada | 4,222 | 1.10% |
| South Korea | 3,983 | 1.00% |
| Mexico | 3,333 | ~0.8% |
| Other Countries (combined) | ~45,435 | ~13.1% |
| Total | ~398,298 | 100% |
| Source: | travel.state.gov |
Read: Latest US H-1B Visa Updates 2025 – Key Changes For Indian Applicants
The hike in application fees is being proposed to increase the government’s funding to expand the apprentice program. This program trains American citizens to take on technology-related job profiles. This includes health care, advanced manufacturing, and information technology.
It aims at training Americans youth for roles at small and medium-sized businesses that were earlier being handled by immigrants.
This is not the first time a proposal has been put forward to increase the H1B visa filing fees. In FY 2017, the H1B filing fee was increased by $4,000 in certain categories.
This affected companies that employed 50 or more employees of which 50% were immigrants. This increased fee was applicable only to new petitions and not for extension petitions.
In October 2018, the premium processing fee was increased to $1,410.
The fee applicable for filing an H1B visa petition depends on many factors, such as the size of the company, etc. The fee can be broken down as:
| Type | Fee in USD | Description | Paid By |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 Fee | $750 or $1,500 | $750 for companies with less than 25 full-time employees; $1,500 for companies with 25 or more full-time employees | Employer |
| Fraud Prevention & Detection Fee | $500 | Applicable to new H-1B and change of employer petitions. Not applicable to Singapore and Chile petitions | Employer |
| Fee based on Public Law 114-113 | $4,000 | Applicable only for companies with more than 50 employees, of whom at least 5% are H-1B visa holders | Employer |
| New Additional H-1B Filing Fee | $100,000 | Mandatory flat fee for each new H-1B petition filed on or after September 21, 2025 | Employer |
| Premium Processing Fee | $2,805 | Optional expedited processing service | Employer or Employee |
| Immigration Attorney Fee | $500 - $3,000 | Applicable only if employer uses third-party immigration attorneys | Employer |
| Visa Stamping Fee | Variable (approx. $190) | Fees vary by U.S. consulate/embassy and country | Employee |
No blanket exemptions exist for any country; exemptions are based on filing date, petition type, and narrowly defined national interest criteria.
| Company | H-1B Approvals |
|---|---|
| Amazon.com Services LLC | 10,044 |
| Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) | 5,505 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 5,189 |
| Meta Platforms Inc | 5,123 |
| Apple Inc | 4,202 |
| Google LLC | 4,181 |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | 2,493 |
| Walmart Associates Inc | 2,390 |
| Deloitte Consulting LLP | 2,353 |
| Amazon Web Services Inc | 2,347 |
| Oracle America Inc | 2,092 |
| Infosys | 2,004 |
| Capgemini America Inc | 1,844 |
| LTIMindtree LTD | 1,807 |
| HCL America Inc | 1,728 |
| Intel Corporation | 1,698 |
| IBM Corporation | 1,598 |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 1,570 |
| Source: | TOI |
Given the immigration trends of the USA, Indian IT companies are likely to be hit the hardest. These companies account for a majority of the H1B applications each year. A higher filing fee will be a financial strain for these companies.
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