U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has quietly confirmed that the extraordinary US$100,000 “out-of-country” filing fee—first introduced during the Trump administration—will apply again to this spring’s FY-2027 H-1B cap season. Under the rule, any H-1B beneficiary who is selected in the electronic lottery but is **not** physically present in the United States at the petition-filing stage triggers the six-figure surcharge, payable in addition to the standard filing, fraud-prevention, and ACWIA fees. The agency says the fee is intended to “ensure that beneficiaries have a bona-fide U.S. job offer and that businesses recruit talent already in the country whenever possible.” No court has issued a stay, and USCIS’s own registration instructions, released 6 February, explicitly reference the fee.
Immigration attorneys warn that the obligation dramatically changes the cost equation for employers that rely on offshore talent. A mid-sized tech firm filing 15 H-1B petitions for India-based software engineers would face an additional US$1.5 million in upfront costs—with no guarantee of approval if the petition is later denied. Companies must still pay the fee even when the employee is abroad only because of consular backlogs or travel-document delays.
At this juncture, many HR teams are turning to VisaHQ, an online visa and document facilitation service, for step-by-step support in coordinating global mobility paperwork. Through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), VisaHQ can help employers pre-screen candidates, assemble compliant filing packets, and track consular appointments—services that become even more valuable when a six-figure surcharge is on the line.
![USCIS Confirms $100,000 Consular Filing Fee Will Remain for FY-2027 H-1B Cap; Employers Eye L-1 Route]()
As a result, counsel are advising multinationals to review **L-1 intracompany transfer** options. Although the L-1 process has its own hurdles—most notably a recent 10-day site-visit pilot and a higher denial rate for L-1B specialized-knowledge cases—there is no comparable surcharge. Employers with global footprints can place new hires in overseas offices for 12 months, then move them to the United States on an L-1A or L-1B, bypassing the H-1B cap altogether.
For smaller companies without foreign affiliates, the fee is forcing hard choices. Some are switching to fully remote arrangements; others are delaying projects or off-shoring entire teams. “We will register a handful of truly critical engineers, but the rest of our head-count growth will happen in Canada,” one Bay-Area biotech CFO told Global Mobility News.
Practical takeaway: U.S. employers hoping to sponsor new graduates or foreign recruits abroad should budget an extra US$100k per case—or restructure assignments so the employee enters the lottery from inside the United States on another category (for example, F-1 OPT or J-1). Registration for the FY-2027 cap runs from 4 March to 19 March 2026, and selection notices are expected by 31 March.
Immigration attorneys warn that the obligation dramatically changes the cost equation for employers that rely on offshore talent. A mid-sized tech firm filing 15 H-1B petitions for India-based software engineers would face an additional US$1.5 million in upfront costs—with no guarantee of approval if the petition is later denied. Companies must still pay the fee even when the employee is abroad only because of consular backlogs or travel-document delays.
At this juncture, many HR teams are turning to VisaHQ, an online visa and document facilitation service, for step-by-step support in coordinating global mobility paperwork. Through its U.S. portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-states/), VisaHQ can help employers pre-screen candidates, assemble compliant filing packets, and track consular appointments—services that become even more valuable when a six-figure surcharge is on the line.
As a result, counsel are advising multinationals to review **L-1 intracompany transfer** options. Although the L-1 process has its own hurdles—most notably a recent 10-day site-visit pilot and a higher denial rate for L-1B specialized-knowledge cases—there is no comparable surcharge. Employers with global footprints can place new hires in overseas offices for 12 months, then move them to the United States on an L-1A or L-1B, bypassing the H-1B cap altogether.
For smaller companies without foreign affiliates, the fee is forcing hard choices. Some are switching to fully remote arrangements; others are delaying projects or off-shoring entire teams. “We will register a handful of truly critical engineers, but the rest of our head-count growth will happen in Canada,” one Bay-Area biotech CFO told Global Mobility News.
Practical takeaway: U.S. employers hoping to sponsor new graduates or foreign recruits abroad should budget an extra US$100k per case—or restructure assignments so the employee enters the lottery from inside the United States on another category (for example, F-1 OPT or J-1). Registration for the FY-2027 cap runs from 4 March to 19 March 2026, and selection notices are expected by 31 March.
