Starting September 9, 2026, employers in the U.S. with at least 50 employees, where more than half work on H-1B or L-1 visas, will also pay a biometric fee of $4,000 or $4,500 when extending an employee’s status with the same employer. For all other companies, nothing changes.
On August 10, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule in the Federal Register expanding the scope of the so-called 9-11 fee (9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee) for H-1B and L-1 work visas. Until now, large employers paid it upon initial petition and when changing employers. Starting September 9, they will pay it upon every status extension, including with the same company.
Sounds alarming? For most Polish companies operating in the U.S., the change does not mean a single dollar more. The fee applies exclusively to a narrowly defined group of “covered employers,” and the thresholds are set so high that a typical Polish-American business does not fall into them. Let’s go through it step by step.
Where this fee comes from and what exactly changes
The 9-11 fee was introduced by Congress in December 2015 via an appropriations bill (Public Law 114-113). It amounts to $4,000 for an H-1B petition and $4,500 for an L-1 petition, with proceeds funding the construction of the U.S. biometric entry-exit tracking system. The amounts are set by statute, and the rule does not change them.
For years, the agency collected it only when the anti-fraud fee also applied to the petition, which meant upon the initial status application and when an employee moved to a new employer. Extensions with the same company were exempt from the fee. The new rule labels that 2016 interpretation erroneous: according to DHS, the best reading of the statute covers all petitions for status extension, regardless of whether the employer changes.
This is not the first attempt. A broader interpretation was already adopted in the 2020 fee rule, but a court blocked it entirely for reasons unrelated to the 9-11 fee itself. Now the agency is revisiting the issue, citing the Supreme Court’s 2024 Loper Bright decision, which directs agencies to apply the “best reading” of a provision.
Who it actually applies to
The fee is paid exclusively by “covered employers”: companies that employ at least 50 workers in the United States and where more than 50 percent of their U.S. workforce, combined, works on H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B visas. As noted in the comments to the rule, the thresholds primarily catch large IT outsourcing firms bringing in personnel from abroad. A company below either threshold pays nothing, regardless of the number of petitions filed.
And here is an important clarification, because in some industry reports the change is briefly described as a “new H-1B extension fee,” which suggests it will affect every employer. Meanwhile, the fee amounts are set by statute, and the rule itself does not change them. The only thing that is new is which petitions from large, “visa-dependent” employers are subject to the fee.
The scale of the change is shown by data from the agency itself. In fiscal years 2018–2025, 27 percent of H-1B petitions filed by covered employers were subject to the fee. If the new rule had been in effect back then, it would have been 75 percent.
Deadlines and practical implications for employers
The rule takes effect on September 9, 2026, and is not retroactive. Petitions filed before that date, including those still pending, are not subject to the expanded fee. In short: anyone planning an employee status extension in the coming weeks who meets the thresholds can realistically save money by filing the application before September 9.
Two caveats from the text of the rule. First, an amended petition that does not request a status extension remains fee-free. Second, the fee is paid by the employer, who bears the burden: regulations generally prohibit passing petition costs onto an H-1B employee’s salary.
There is also an end date: under the current law, the 9-11 fee expires on September 30, 2027, unless Congress extends it again. For companies that are just building a team in the U.S. and considering work visas, our guide on the E-2 investor visa for Polish companies will be useful, and we covered this year’s exhaustion of the H-1B cap in our article about the H-1B cap for 2027.
The full text of the rule, along with the rationale and responses to 146 comments from the consultation, is available in the Federal Register (91 FR 51360). Employers close to the thresholds should calculate their employment structure with an immigration attorney before planning autumn extensions.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed immigration attorney regarding individual cases.
Marek Zawadzki
