Team Trump Plans To Make H-1B Visa Extensions Costlier. How It May Affect Indians

The Donald Trump administration in the United States is planning to make the extension of H-1B and L-1 visas more expensive, a move that could increase costs for large US companies that depend on foreign skilled workers, including thousands of Indian professionals. A final rule is expected in July to expand the "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee' to petitions seeking work visa extensions, according to the Department of Homeland Security's regulatory agenda.

Under the current rule in the US, employers with over 50 employees, over half of whom hold H-1B or L-1 visas, need to shell out an additional $4,000 for H-1B petitions and $4,500 for L-1 petitions only when filing an initial petition or when an employee changes employers.

"DHS is amending and clarifying the regulations to specify that the 9-11 Response Fees will apply to all H-1B and L-1 extension petitions," the rule states.

$100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

The new proposal follows a recent legal setback to the Trump administration after a US federal appeals court declined to pause a lower court ruling striking down its proposed US$100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. 

As workers with the H-1B visas typically require visa extensions after their initial three-year stay, the proposed changes could increase immigration-related costs for companies that rely heavily on foreign talent, including Indian professionals. 

The proposal also affects multinational companies like Google and Meta that use L-1 visas to transfer executives, managers, and employees with specialised knowledge to their US operations.

Indian Workers Likely Affected

The move is likely to affect Indian professionals working in the US, who account for the vast majority of H-1B extensions granted each year.

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, a total of 406,685 H-1B petitions were approved in fiscal year 2025. 

Of these, 71 per cent approvals, amounting to 291,542 petitions, were for continuing employment rather than first-time entrants into the program.

Indian nationals accounted for 226,359 of those approvals, representing 77.6 per cent of all H-1B renewals, followed by China with 31,581 approvals. 

Big Tech to Be Affected

The proposed fee hike could particularly affect large technology companies and IT services firms that rely on H-1B workers.

The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) data shows that Amazon received the highest number of approved H-1B petitions for continuing employment in fiscal 2025 at 14,532, followed by TCS (5,293), Microsoft (4,863), Meta Platforms (4,740), Apple (4,610) and Google (4,509).