New Delhi : A proposal from the Donald Trump administration that could raise or otherwise change fees for petitions for the H-1B work programme has cleared a key White House regulatory review, bringing it closer to publication and implementation, reported the US-based outlet, Bloomberg Law. According to the report, the proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), identified as RIM 1615-AD20 was cleared by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Wednesday. This proposal will be published by the DHS publicly in the coming weeks.
The move comes as the Donald Trump Administration continues to overhaul the H-1B programme from the ground up, a visa route that is heavily used by highly skilled Indian professionals looking to live and work in the US. The DHS proposal that cleared the White House reviews concerns fees associated with H-1B visa workers’ petitions, according to Bloomberg Law. But the proposal’s precise provisions remain under wraps as the DHS has yet to publish the regulation.
In any case, the proposal comes amid the Trump administration’s wider efforts to make the H-1B programme more restrictive and costly. For instance, the administration imposed a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B workers via a presidential proclamation, although a federal court later struck down the fee, a ruling that the administration has challenged. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security has expanded the scope of the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee to cover H-1B and L-1 extension-of-status petitions filed by certain employers.
Bloomberg Law further reported that the Trump administration is considering separate changes to the H-1B programme, including tighter scrutiny of employers with compliance violations and greater oversight of third-party placements. The developments are particularly significant for Indian professionals, who account for a large share of H-1B workers. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, the agency approved 406,348 H-1B petitions in FY2025, including 291,542, or nearly 72%, for continuing employment.
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