DHS Proposes $103,265 H-1B Fee: A Practical Planning Guide for HR Leaders

DHS has proposed a $103,265 fee for new H-1B hires chosen through the annual H-1B lottery, potentially as soon as next year's cycle. It is not in effect yet and may still change before it is final. You and your HR team have good reason to start planning now, especially for employees on OPT and STEM OPT who will eventually need to enter that lottery for the first time.

DHS sent the proposal for White House regulatory review on August 16, 2026 and announced it publicly on August 24, 2026. You can read the proposed rule, Fee for Certain H-1B Petitions, which is scheduled for official Federal Register publication on August 25 and opens a 30-day public comment window. The fee cannot take effect until DHS reviews those comments and issues a final rule, a process that can still change the amount, who it covers, and the timing.

Who this fee would apply to

Every year, more people register for an H-1B visa than the government has visas available, so USCIS runs a lottery to decide who can move forward and file a full H-1B petition. This proposed fee is tied to that lottery, and only to a petition filed the first time an employee wins a spot in it. Here is how that breaks down for the situations you are most likely to run into:

The detail that matters for your planning: an employee can already be sitting in your office on OPT today. Working for you does not exempt them from the lottery. Their first H-1B petition still has to go through it, and this fee would apply to that petition the same way it would apply to a new hire from abroad.

How to guide your company's leadership

Once this proposal is in the news, your leadership team will likely ask about it before you have a finished plan to hand them. A short, calm briefing works better than waiting until you have all the answers.

How to plan for your OPT and STEM OPT employees

You'll likely find your nearest-term exposure among employees currently working under F-1 Optional Practical Training. The usual path runs from OPT, to entering the H-1B lottery, to filing a full petition if selected. If this rule becomes final, that last step could carry an added $103,265 government fee.

Employees with less than a year of OPT remaining

An employee whose OPT expires next summer may have only one realistic chance left to enter the H-1B lottery before their work authorization runs out. If the fee takes effect before that filing, you could face a choice between paying it, finding another immigration option, relocating the employee, or losing them. Identify this group first. Do not wait until H-1B lottery season to find out who has limited time left.

Employees with more than a year of OPT/STEM OPT remaining

If your employee already has more than a year of OPT or STEM OPT left, whether they are approved for the 24-month STEM extension or already partway through it, you have more room to plan than you would for someone facing an immediate deadline. Treat that extra time as immigration planning runway you can use to line up options. Depending on how the rule develops, that runway can support a few different paths:

• Continuing to employ the person while the rulemaking process and any litigation play out.
• Waiting for a future H-1B lottery cycle once the fee's status is clearer.
• Considering another U.S. immigration category the employee may qualify for, such as O-1 for extraordinary ability, TN for Canadian or Mexican citizens in qualifying professions, H-1B1 for Chilean or Singaporean citizens, E-3 for Australian citizens, or L-1 if they have qualifying experience with a related company abroad.
• Building the employee's qualifications toward a category with different requirements.
• Exploring an international transfer without committing to it right away.

Build the inventory before you need it

This exercise does not ask you to decide anything about anyone today. It gives you the facts you would need if the proposal becomes final. For every employee currently on OPT or STEM OPT, confirm:

• When their current OPT or STEM OPT expires.
• Whether they are eligible for the STEM OPT extension.
• How many realistic chances they have left to enter the H-1B lottery.
• Whether the role is business-critical, to help you prioritize if sponsorship gets substantially more expensive.
• Whether another U.S. visa category could apply to them.
• Whether your company has operations outside the U.S. that could support a transfer.
• Whether the employee's role could realistically be performed from another country.

How WayLit can help

If you work with WayLit, you do not have to build this inventory by hand. Your dedicated immigration attorneys and practitioners already track each employee's OPT and STEM OPT dates, lottery history, and case status in one place, so most of this list exists before you ask for it.

• WayLit flags upcoming work-authorization expirations automatically, so you hear about a tight timeline months in advance instead of the week before.
• Your WayLit team can model what a $103,265 fee would mean for your specific population and budget once the rule is closer to final.
• You get one point of contact for "what changes for us if this rule finalizes," instead of piecing the answer together yourself across counsel, payroll, and HR.

If the H-1B becomes too expensive, where else could the employee work?

A $103,265 fee changes the economics of sponsorship. For a business-critical employee, paying it may still make sense. For others, especially employees who already work for a company with international operations, you may want another option on the table.

That could mean relocating the employee to another country.

Three destinations worth evaluating early are Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Each has an established pathway for skilled foreign workers, but the mechanics differ.

*Treat the processing times above as estimates rather than guarantees. Government targets and current processing indicators can change.

Canada: often the first country to evaluate for highly skilled talent

Canada deserves an early look if you are based in the U.S. and considering relocation.

Canada's Global Talent Stream is designed for certain highly skilled positions and offers accelerated processing. The government currently targets a decision on qualifying Global Talent Stream Labour Market Impact Assessment applications within 10 business days, 80% of the time.

Employees who meet the requirements of Canada's Global Skills Strategy may then qualify for expedited work permit processing, with a government target of two weeks for eligible, complete applications submitted from outside Canada.

Not every employee qualifies for the Global Talent Stream, and not every Canadian work permit requires an LMIA. Canada also has LMIA-exempt pathways under its International Mobility Program, including certain free-trade-agreement and intracompany-transfer situations.

When should you consider Canada? It may be particularly worth evaluating when:

• The employee works in technology, engineering, management, or another highly skilled occupation.
• Your company already has Canadian operations.
• The employee can perform substantially the same role from Canada.
• Staying in North American time zones matters for the role.
• You need an option that could be executable relatively quickly.

For an OPT or STEM OPT employee whose U.S. work authorization is running out, Canada can be a genuine contingency, worth evaluating well before it becomes your only remaining option.

United Kingdom: particularly practical if you already hold a UK sponsor licence

The UK's primary employer-sponsored route is the Skilled Worker visa.

The employee needs an eligible role with an approved UK sponsor and must meet the applicable compensation and other requirements. Your UK entity issues a Certificate of Sponsorship, which the employee uses for the visa application. For applications made from outside the UK, the government currently states that Skilled Worker decisions are generally made within three weeks after the application, identity verification, and supporting documents are complete.

The biggest operational question for you is often whether your company already holds a UK sponsor licence. If it does, the UK can be considerably easier to activate as a contingency location. If it does not, your company has to become an approved sponsor first, and a new sponsor licence application generally takes around eight weeks to process, though a faster priority option may be available in some circumstances.

The UK also has a Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker route for qualifying assignments between related companies. That route carries additional requirements, including prior overseas employment in many cases, so it will not necessarily help an employee who has only ever worked in the United States.

Ireland: particularly attractive for certain critical-skills occupations

Ireland can be a strong option for technology and other highly skilled employees.

The Critical Skills Employment Permit is built for occupations where Ireland has identified skills shortages. The current Critical Skills Occupations List covers roles across areas such as ICT, sciences, engineering, finance, and other professional disciplines.

Ireland raised the general minimum remuneration threshold for many Critical Skills permits to €40,904, effective March 1, 2026, though the exact salary and qualification rules depend on the occupation.

Processing is also relatively quick right now. As of August 21, 2026, the most recently published update at the time of writing, Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was processing Critical Skills Employment Permit applications submitted around a week earlier. That is not a guarantee of a one-week approval, but it gives you a useful read on the current queue.

Ireland also has a separate Intra-Company Transfer Employment Permit for qualifying senior managers, key personnel, and trainees moving within a multinational organization.

When should you consider Ireland? It may be particularly relevant when:

• The employee works in technology, engineering, science, finance, or another occupation on the Critical Skills list.
• Your company already has an Irish entity.
• The role supports European operations.
• The compensation meets the applicable permit threshold.
• You want to keep open a longer-term European talent strategy.

Other jurisdictions worth a look

• Germany
• Netherlands
• Australia
• Singapore

The right destination depends on more than visa processing. Evaluate payroll, tax, employment law, compensation, time zones, benefits, entity structure, and whether the employee wants to relocate. The goal is a location where the immigration path and the employment arrangement both work.

How WayLit can help with relocation abroad

WayLit's attorney and practitioner network already covers Canada, Germany, and a number of other markets, so you can find out quickly whether a given country is realistic for a specific employee, rather than starting a legal search from scratch. For markets outside that network, including the UK and Ireland, your WayLit contact can help you find and vet qualified local counsel and keep the immigration filing, the local employment setup, and the timeline coordinated under one owner, instead of splitting the work across several outside vendors.

Canada vs. UK vs. Ireland: how should you choose?

Start with your own corporate footprint instead of asking which country has the fastest visa on paper.

If you already have a functioning Canadian entity but no UK sponsor licence, Canada may be far easier operationally. If you already sponsor employees in the UK, the UK may offer the cleanest option. If the employee works in an occupation covered by Ireland's Critical Skills program and your company has meaningful Irish operations, Ireland may be particularly attractive.

A practical decision framework looks like this:

Don't forget the potential path back to the U.S.

Relocating an employee does not have to mean giving up on bringing them back. For a multinational company, working abroad can sometimes create a future L-1 intracompany transferee strategy.

Generally, the employee needs to work abroad for a qualifying related organization for at least one continuous year within the applicable three-year period, and both the U.S. and foreign roles need to satisfy the L-1 requirements. That means you should design an international assignment thoughtfully from the start.

If an employee moves to Canada, the UK, or Ireland mainly because their OPT is expiring, also ask whether the assignment could position them for a viable return to the U.S. later. This will not work for every employee, but when the corporate relationship, job duties, and the employee's qualifications line up, an emergency relocation can become part of a longer-term mobility strategy.

Segment your workforce by runway and priority

Rather than treating every international employee the same way, group them by immigration runway and business importance.

• High priority: OPT expiring within 12 months with no STEM eligibility. Evaluate H-1B, alternative U.S. options, and international contingency now.
• Medium priority: OPT employee eligible for the STEM extension. Secure STEM OPT where it fits, and use the added runway for planning.
• Monitor: STEM OPT with 18 or more months remaining. Keep employing the person while tracking the rule and evaluating longer-term options.
• High priority: a business-critical employee about to enter the H-1B lottery for the first time. Model the cost of sponsorship against alternative immigration or relocation strategies.
• Lower priority: an employee who already has an H-1B visa. The proposed fee generally should not affect their ordinary extensions or transfers.
• Plan B available: an employee who could work from an international office. Evaluate destination-country immigration and employment requirements.

Aim to avoid discovering an immigration problem three months before an employee's work authorization runs out.

Put a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C next to every at-risk employee

For employees on OPT or STEM OPT, this does not need to become a large planning exercise. For each potentially affected employee, document three paths.

Example: software engineer on STEM OPT

Example: product manager with 10 months of OPT remaining

The goal is confirming that Plan C exists before Plan A fails. You do not need to activate it today.

Three steps to take now

Frequently asked questions

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified immigration counsel before making decisions about your sponsored workforce.