DHS Just Expanded the $4,000 H-1B Fee to Same-Employer Extensions. Covered Employers Have Until September 9.

What DHS published on August 10

On August 10, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule in the Federal Register — document 2026-16231 — that expands the scope of employers required to pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee when filing H-1B and L-1 extension petitions. The rule takes effect September 9, 2026, exactly 30 days after publication.

What the rule changes is specific and significant: for the first time, covered employers must pay this fee on same-employer extension petitions — petitions where the same company is simply extending an existing worker's status for another period. Before August 10, covered employers only owed this fee when filing initial petitions or petitions for a worker switching from one covered employer to another. Extensions staying within the same employer were exempt. That exemption is gone.

The fee amounts are $4,000 per H-1B petition and $4,500 per L-1 petition. These are not new numbers. What is new is the category of filings they now apply to. DHS has characterized this change as a statutory correction rather than a new policy decision — the agency's position is that the statute always required the fee on extensions and that prior guidance excluding same-employer renewals was incorrect as a matter of law.

This article is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Fee obligations depend on your company's specific workforce composition, and an immigration attorney can advise on your exact situation.

Where the 9-11 biometric fee came from

The 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee was created by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. The statute directed that certain large employers who rely heavily on H-1B and L-1 workers pay an additional fee per petition — on top of the standard filing fees — to fund two specific programs: the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and a biometric entry-exit tracking system at U.S. ports of entry.

When the fee was first implemented, USCIS interpreted it to apply to initial petitions (first-time H-1B filings and changes of employer) but not to same-employer extensions. That interpretation held for nearly a decade. The August 10 rule reverses it. DHS reviewed the statute and concluded the text does not carve out same-employer renewals — it applies to any H-1B or L-1 petition filed by a covered employer, and extensions are petitions.

The practical effect is that any large H-1B-dependent employer with a workforce that has been at the company for years — workers who cycle through extension after extension at the same company — now owes $4,000 per head, per cycle, not just when they first hired the person.

The 50-50 rule: what makes an employer covered

Not every employer that files H-1B or L-1 petitions is subject to this fee. The statute defines a covered employer using two thresholds, both of which must be met.

First, the employer must have more than 50 full-time equivalent employees in the United States. Second, more than 50 percent of those employees must hold H-1B or L-1 status. If either condition is not met, the employer is not covered and owes no fee under this rule.

The 50-50 threshold was designed to target companies sometimes called H-1B-dependent employers — staffing firms and outsourcing companies that run their U.S. workforce primarily on H-1B and L-1 visas. Technology consulting companies that staff client sites, business process outsourcing firms, and similar employers in the IT services sector are the primary universe of covered employers. Most U.S. technology companies — companies that hire H-1B workers but also have large domestic workforces — fall below the 50 percent threshold and are not covered.

Employers near the 50 percent line need to watch their numbers carefully. Workforce composition can shift over time, and a company that was not covered in prior years may have crossed the threshold. The rule's effective date is September 9, but the relevant count is your workforce composition at the time each petition is filed.

What changed: the same-employer extension gap is closed

The practical impact of August 10's rule depends on whether you are a covered employer and how often your H-1B and L-1 workers cycle through extensions.

Under the prior interpretation, a covered employer paid the fee when it first hired an H-1B worker, and again only if that worker left and came back or moved to a new employer. Extensions at the same company — which happen every three years for H-1B workers and every two or three years for L-1 workers, depending on status — were exempt. That cycle could go on indefinitely without triggering another fee payment.

Under the new rule, every extension petition filed by a covered employer is a fee event. A covered employer with 500 H-1B workers who all need extensions in a given year now owes $2 million in 9-11 fees alone for that year's extension cycle, on top of all other filing fees. That is a material compliance cost that did not exist in USCIS's processing queue before September 9.

DHS's legal position is that this was always the law — that covered employers had been underpaying for years — so there is no grandfather period. If your company is a covered employer and you file an H-1B or L-1 extension petition on or after September 9, the fee is owed.

The cost math for covered employers

The extension fee is $4,000 per H-1B petition and $4,500 per L-1 petition. These fees are nonrefundable and are paid to USCIS at the time of filing, the same way standard filing fees are paid.

For a covered employer with a large H-1B workforce, the annualized cost is significant. H-1B status is initially granted for three years, with extensions in three-year increments. An employer with 300 H-1B workers coming up for extension over the next 12 months owes $1.2 million in 9-11 fees for that cohort alone. L-1 extensions — capped at two or three years depending on whether the worker holds L-1A or L-1B status — add $4,500 per head per extension cycle.

Some employers have historically passed filing fees through to workers or client companies depending on contractual arrangements. The legality of passing specific USCIS fees to H-1B beneficiaries is regulated and varies by fee type. Employers should confirm their payment structure with immigration counsel before assuming the $4,000 extension fee can be passed through.

September 9 is the effective date — not a soft deadline

The rule published August 10. The effective date is September 9, 2026. That is the date the new requirement kicks in for extension petitions — not a guidance date, not a suggestion, and not a transition period.

Petitions received by USCIS before September 9 are processed under the prior rules. Petitions received on or after September 9 are subject to the expanded fee requirement. If a covered employer has H-1B extensions pending and wants to file before the new requirement applies, they need to have those petitions in USCIS's hands by September 8.

USCIS will reject petitions from covered employers that are missing the required fee. A rejected petition is not a denial — the employer gets the filing back and can refile — but rejection wastes time and disrupts workers whose status is up for renewal. Missing the fee is not a gray area: USCIS checks required fees at intake, and the 9-11 fee is listed on USCIS fee schedules.

September 9 is 27 days from today. That is enough time to prepare extension petitions for workers whose H-1B status ends in the near term, but it is not a lot of time for a covered employer that has not yet inventoried its upcoming renewals.

How this sits alongside other H-1B fees right now

The 9-11 fee is one of several fees an employer pays when filing an H-1B petition. The standard H-1B filing fee is $730 for most employers. There is an additional $600 asylum program fee for employers with more than 25 full-time equivalent employees, which was added in 2024. There is also a fraud prevention and detection fee of $500 for initial petitions and petitions involving a change of employer.

For covered employers, the $4,000 9-11 fee now applies to extension petitions on top of the standard $730 filing fee and, where applicable, the $600 asylum program fee. The fraud fee does not apply to same-employer extensions. So a covered employer filing a same-employer H-1B extension after September 9 is looking at $5,330 per petition at minimum: $730 (filing) + $600 (asylum) + $4,000 (9-11 fee).

Premium processing — which costs $2,805 for an expedited adjudication target of 15 business days — is optional but common for extension petitions when the worker's current status is expiring soon. A covered employer using premium processing adds another $2,805, bringing the total per-petition cost for a same-employer H-1B extension to $8,135.

These are per-petition figures. For a company with 200 H-1B extensions due in the next year, the aggregate cost increase from the new rule alone is $800,000.

What to do before September 9

Covered employers — those with 50-plus U.S. employees where more than half hold H-1B or L-1 status — should take three steps now.

First, run an inventory of H-1B and L-1 extension petitions that are already prepared or in progress. If any can be filed before September 9 without cutting legal review corners, doing so saves $4,000 or $4,500 per petition. This is a real dollar amount per head, and rushing immigration petitions to avoid a fee is only worth it if the petition is genuinely ready.

Second, update your fee calculations for petitions that will be filed after September 9. Any H-1B extension budget built before August 10 is now understated by $4,000 per petition. Finance and HR teams running workforce cost models need the updated number.

Third, confirm your covered employer status. If your company has grown or restructured and you are not sure whether you currently clear both the 50-employee and 50-percent thresholds, now is the time to check. Covered employer status is not self-reported on the petition form — USCIS uses filings to spot-check compliance — but the fee obligation exists regardless of whether USCIS catches a nonpayment on any individual petition.

The DHS final rule, document 2026-16231, is available on the Federal Register website. The rule text contains the agency's full statutory analysis explaining why it now applies the fee to same-employer extensions. Employers who believe they are not covered or who want to challenge the fee calculation should consult immigration counsel before their next filing cycle.