A new US rule took effect on 9 September 2026 that adds thousands of dollars to certain work visa renewals. The H-1B extension fee now reaches $4,000 for covered employers, and the equivalent L-1 charge reaches $4,500. The change applies to extension petitions that previously escaped it.
The Department of Homeland Security published the final rule on 10 August 2026. It amends the regulations governing the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee.
Form I-129 petitions postmarked or filed electronically on or after 9 September must include the fee where it applies.
Who the H-1B extension fee actually hits
The charge is limited to “covered employers”. The definition has two parts and both must be true.
The employer must have 50 or more US employees. More than 50% of that workforce must hold H-1B or L-1 status.
That test excludes most companies outright. A large firm with a handful of visa holders does not meet it. A mid-sized firm built mainly on sponsored staff does.
The rule therefore concentrates on staffing and outsourcing businesses rather than on employers generally. Most H-1B and L-1 workers will not see their employer charged.
What changed on 9 September
The fee itself is not new. It already applied to petitions seeking an initial grant of status, and it still does, unchanged.
What changed is the scope. Covered employers must now pay it on all extension of status petitions.
Previously the charge was tied to whether the related fraud prevention and detection fee applied. The new rule removes that link. Extensions that keep an employee with the same employer are now captured.
That last point matters most in practice. Routine renewals for existing staff were the common case that fell outside the old wording.
What this means for workers on these visas
The fee is an employer cost. Workers do not pay it directly.
Indirect effects are the real question. Employers facing a higher renewal cost may weigh sponsorship differently at the point of extension, particularly where margins are thin.
Consider a software engineer on an H-1B at a mid-sized consultancy where most staff hold sponsored status. That employer now faces $4,000 at each extension on top of existing filing costs. The engineer’s status is unaffected, but the renewal decision carries a new number.
Nothing in the rule changes eligibility, processing times or the cap. It changes price, and only for a defined set of employers.
This sits alongside other cost changes we have covered, including the proposed six-figure H-1B fee and the weighted selection and prevailing wage proposal.
How the 50-50 test works in practice
The threshold has a specific history. Congress created the surcharge for employers whose US workforce depends heavily on H-1B and L-1 staff, and the 50-50 label comes from its two limbs.
Counting the workforce is the first step. Employers count US employees, including full-time and, depending on their policy, other categories their counsel treats as employees.
Counting visa holders is the second. More than half of that total must hold H-1B or L-1 status for the surcharge to apply.
Employers near the line need care. A company at 48% one quarter and 52% the next changes category, and the test applies at the time of filing.
Getting this wrong cuts both ways. Underpaying risks rejection of the petition. Overpaying hands money to an agency that will not volunteer it back.
Dates and filings to keep in view
The 9 September trigger is based on the postmark or electronic submission date, not on the decision date. Petitions sent before then follow the old rules.
Employers close to the 50-employee or 50% thresholds should confirm their position before filing. The test is applied to the employer, not the individual petition.
Separately, a revised public charge guidance applies to Form I-485 filings postmarked on or after 18 September 2026. Applications filed before that date fall under the 2022 policy. That is a different rule affecting a different filing.
September is also the final month of the US fiscal year, which is when employment-based categories can hit annual limits. Our summary of the October 2026 Visa Bulletin covers where those categories stand.
Keep the two filings separate in your planning. An I-129 extension and an I-485 adjustment follow different rules, different fees and different cut-off dates.
Employers running both for the same worker should date each one deliberately. A single week can move a filing from one rule set to another.
Frequently raised points on the new charge
- How much is the fee? $4,000 for H-1B and $4,500 for L-1, payable by covered employers.
- When did it start? The final rule took effect 9 September 2026 and applies to Form I-129 petitions filed on or after that date.
- Who counts as a covered employer? An employer with 50 or more US employees where more than 50% hold H-1B or L-1 status.
- Does it apply to new petitions? The fee already applied to initial grants of status and continues to apply there unchanged.
- What exactly changed? Covered employers must now pay it on all extension petitions, including extensions with the same employer.
- Do employees pay it? No. It is charged to the petitioning employer.
Related immigration coverage
Read our reports on the $100,265 H-1B fee proposal, the weighted H-1B selection plan and the October 2026 Visa Bulletin.
Sources
- Federal Register — 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas. federalregister.gov
- American Immigration Lawyers Association — DHS Final Rule Expanding 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee. aila.org
- USCIS — H-1B Specialty Occupations. uscis.gov
