H1B visa 2025: Fees, validity period, new rules, latest policy and changes you must know

The changes could significantly affect international students and professionals hoping to live and work in the United States.

What is the new $100,000 fee

US President Donald Trump announced a one-time $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications. The fee will be required for all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 21, 2025. It applies to the 2026 lottery and all subsequent new petitions.

New H-1B fee does not apply to:

– Previously issued H-1B visas
– Petitions submitted before 12:01 am eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025
– H-1B renewals

Validity period

The initial validity allows foreign workers to stay in the United States for up to three years, with the possibility of extension for up to three additional years, totalling six years.

If one possesses a controlling interest in the petitioning organisation or entity (owning more than 50 per cent or having majority voting rights), the initial petition and first extension petition will be limited to 18 months each.

Latest policy changes

Prioritising higher-wage petitions

Until now, H-1B visas (85,000 available each year for new hires) have been decided by a random lottery. Under the new proposal, the lottery would no longer be entirely random but a “weighted” draw that gives higher wage levels better odds.

Now, workers with higher-paying job offers would have greater chances of selection than those with entry-level salaries. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it wants to “move away from a purely random selection process to a weighted selection process” for H-1B registrations.

How will the selection process work?

Each H-1B candidate will be placed in a government-defined wage tier (Level 1 through Level 4) based on the job’s offered salary. These tiers are drawn from the US Department of Labor data for each occupation and location. Level 1 is entry-level; Level 4 is the highest expert-level wage. Employers must list the job’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, location, and OEWS wage level while filing.

If registrations exceed available visas, USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) will run a weighted lottery that assigns more entries to higher wage levels:

• Level 4 (highest wage): name entered four times
• Level 3: entered three times
• Level 2: entered twice
• Level 1 (lowest wage): entered once
  In other words, a candidate offered a Level 4 salary would get four chances to be picked, while an entry-level worker would have only one.

From the homepage

Govt cancels foreign funding licence of Sonam Wangchuk’s NGO amid Ladakh protests

‘Intent to malign reputation’: Sameer Wankhede moves Delhi High Court against Aryan Khan’s ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’

After protests and deaths, the crackdown: 50 people picked up, Congress councillor booked in Leh