For US tech companies that depend on skilled foreign engineers, the H-1B visa has become harder to plan around. The $100,000 fee introduced in 2025 has been imposed, challenged, blocked and now extended, and the result is a planning problem for any company that needs to hire from abroad.
Where the $100,000 H-1B fee stands today
The fee applied to new H-1B petitions filed from September 21, 2025, where the worker was outside the United States and did not already hold a valid H-1B visa. Legal challenges followed.
On June 8, 2026, a federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the agency policy implementing the fee, and on July 24, 2026 the First Circuit refused to pause that ruling while the government appealed. As a result, the fee was not being collected as of September 21, 2026.
That is not the end of the story. On September 18, 2026, a new proclamation extended the fee policy through September 21, 2027, and the extension signals an intent to reinstate the fee if the litigation goes the government’s way. A separate executive order the same day directs agencies to weigh an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of similar US workers when reviewing H-1B cases.
For a company planning hires 12 to 24 months ahead, the honest summary is that the fee is paused, not gone.
Why this matters for workforce planning
Uncertainty is often more costly than a fixed rule. A hiring plan that relies on H-1B sponsorship now depends on court rulings, agency guidance and executive actions that can change within weeks. Recruiters cannot promise candidates a timeline, and finance teams cannot budget a cost per hire with confidence.
That is why many tech leaders are looking at an H-1B alternative: hiring skilled engineers where they already live, instead of relocating them.
Hiring engineers in India as an alternative
India has one of the world’s largest pools of software engineering talent, and the country’s position as a global talent hub for engineering teams is a big reason companies look there first. Salaries for comparable roles are typically well below US levels, and the gap is easy to test: a global employee cost calculator lets you compare the fully loaded cost of a role in India against the same role in the US.
Companies can build teams there without an H-1B petition, because the engineers work from India as employees, not as visa holders in the US.
Three common ways to build the team
- An Indian subsidiary or GCC, which offers full control but takes time and capital to set up.
- Contractors or staffing vendors, which are quick but offer less continuity.
- An employer of record (EOR), which employs full-time engineers on your behalf while you manage their work.
For most US companies testing the model, the EOR route is the fastest way to hire Indian talent for US teams without setting up a legal entity, and it can be scaled or converted later.
What to weigh before moving work offshore
Offshore hiring is not a simple swap for H-1B sponsorship. Leaders should think through:
- Time zones: plan a shared overlap window of a few hours for collaboration.
- Ownership: give the team real product responsibility, not just tickets.
- Retention: offer clear career paths and local benefits.
- Data and IP: put security and intellectual-property protections in place from day one.
The bottom line
The $100,000 H-1B fee is currently blocked, but the policy has been extended and could return. Companies that diversify how and where they hire will be better placed than those that wait for the courts to settle it. For many, building part of the engineering team in India is a practical way to reduce dependence on a single immigration policy, and an H-1B alternative approach can be tested with a small team before any larger commitment.
This article is for general information and is not legal or immigration advice. Consult an immigration attorney about your situation.
At Kaamwork, which helps US companies build engineering teams in India.
