H-1B sponsor cost
H-1B sponsor cost is a stack of government filing components, not one universal number. Registration, Form I-129, asylum, ACWIA, fraud, premium processing, employer type, and the 2025 proclamation screen can all change the total.
Cap registration
$215
Regular I-129
$780
Verified
2026-08-12
As of , a common regular, nonexempt initial cap case is about $3,595 in government filing components before attorney fees or premium processing. Some cases are lower, and certain post-2025 proclamation cases require a separate $100,000 screen.
Page updated: . Last verified: . Date retrieved: . VisaSignal is a public filing research tool, not legal advice or a case-specific fee calculator.
Fee components
Use the components below as a checklist. Whether a fee applies depends on the petition type, employer category, requested processing, and current government guidance.
Applies to each cap registration submitted for the H-1B cap or advanced-degree selection process. It is not part of every non-cap petition.
The base H-1B/H-1B1 petition fee in the USCIS fee schedule. A $50 online-filing discount can apply to regular online filings unless the fee rule says otherwise.
Regular petitioners pay $600; small employers pay $300; nonprofits pay no Asylum Program Fee. The online discount does not apply to this fee.
Certain H-1B petitions owe the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act fee. The amount depends on employer size and exemptions.
Certain initial H-1B petitions and change-of-employer petitions owe this statutory fee. H-1B1 Chile/Singapore petitions are treated separately.
Optional Form I-907 premium processing is paid in addition to other filing fees when a petitioner requests premium processing for an eligible H-1B petition. DOL names this fee an employer business expense, so it cannot be shifted to the worker where doing so would cut pay below the required wage.
The 9-11 response and biometric entry-exit fee applies to petitioners with 50 or more US employees where more than half are in H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B status. The fee schedule sets it at $4,000 for H-1B (the L-1 version is $4,500) and states that collection is scheduled to end on September 30, 2027.
Proclamation 10973 (signed September 19, 2025, effective September 21, 2025) directs a one-time $100,000 payment for certain new H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries outside the United States through consular processing — it does not reach every cap petition. A federal court vacated the implementing policy on June 8, 2026, but the government appealed and the payment still applies to qualifying cases pending appeal, so confirm current USCIS guidance and treat it as a separate case-specific screen.
Fast estimates
These examples are not quotes. They show why sponsor-cost searches need employer type, cap posture, exemptions, and premium-processing choice before a total is useful.
$215 cap registration + $780 Form I-129 + $600 Asylum Program Fee + $500 fraud fee + $1,500 ACWIA. Excludes attorney fees, premium processing, and any proclamation payment.
$215 cap registration + $460 Form I-129 + $300 Asylum Program Fee + $500 fraud fee + $750 ACWIA. Exemptions and case posture can change the total.
Premium processing is an optional request. It speeds eligible petition adjudication but does not replace the filing, asylum, ACWIA, fraud, or other required fees.
Worker-charge guardrails
DOL separates sponsor filing costs from wages. The important research question is not only the amount, but who is allowed to bear it.
DOL Fact Sheet #62H says an H-1B worker can never be required to pay a state-law penalty for leaving before the end of the employment period, any part of the statutory training and processing fee, or any part of the $500 fraud protection and detection fee. These three do not depend on what the worker is paid.
The I-129 petition fee, the premium processing fee, and LCA filing costs including attorney fees are employer business expenses. Fact Sheet #62H bars charging them to the worker when doing so would cut pay below the required wage rate — a narrower test than the outright bans above, so read the two rules separately rather than as one list.
Cap registration, initial approval, change of employer, nonprofit status, small-employer status, premium processing, and the 2025 proclamation screen can all change the final cost.
Official-source trail
Fee amounts change. The safest workflow is to check the live fee schedule and DOL worker-charge guidance before relying on any sponsor-cost estimate.
Audit the VisaSignal layer
The official links above are the primary records. Review how VisaSignal normalizes those records and when its public imports last refreshed.
Continue researching
Sponsor cost only tells you the fee burden. These pages show whether an employer has official LCA, PERM, wage, and source-history signals.
LCA and PERM rows are filing signals, not USCIS approvals, green-card approvals, legal advice, or outcome predictions.
FAQ
A common regular, nonexempt initial cap case is about $3,595 in government filing components before attorney fees or premium processing: $215 cap registration, $780 Form I-129, $600 Asylum Program Fee, $500 fraud fee, and $1,500 ACWIA. Some cases cost less or much more because exemptions, small-employer status, premium processing, the 50/50 fee, or the 2025 proclamation payment can apply.
It depends which fee, and DOL Fact Sheet #62H draws the line in two places rather than one. Three charges are barred outright no matter what the worker earns: a state-law penalty for failing to complete the employment period, any part of the statutory training and processing fee, and any part of the $500 fraud protection and detection fee. Separately, employer business expenses — the Form I-129 petition fee, the premium processing fee, LCA filing costs, attorney fees, tools and equipment, and travel on the employer's business — cannot be charged to the worker where the charge would reduce pay below the required wage rate. The petition filing fee sits in that second, wage-dependent category, not the outright ban.
No. Premium processing is optional and is paid in addition to the ordinary fee stack. The current premium-processing amount for an H-1B classification request is $2,965 in the USCIS fee schedule.
No. Proclamation 10973 ties the one-time $100,000 payment to certain new H-1B petitions for beneficiaries outside the United States (consular processing) on or after its September 21, 2025 effective date, not to every petition. A federal court vacated the implementing policy on June 8, 2026, but the government's appeal is pending and the payment still applies to qualifying cases, so treat it as a separate case-specific screen and confirm current government guidance rather than folding it into the ordinary filing-fee estimate.
No. A DOL-certified LCA is not the same as USCIS H-1B petition approval. It is an official labor-condition filing signal that should be interpreted with that limit.
No. PERM certification is one step in an employment-based green card process. It does not mean a green card, I-140 petition, or adjustment of status was approved.
No. Official filing history can show recent activity, roles, worksites, and wage signals, but it does not guarantee future sponsorship or predict legal outcomes.