Who Actually Pays the $100,000 H-1B Presidential Fee?
If you're an international graduate trying to land an H-1B in 2026, the instinct is obvious: offer to cover the fee yourself. If a startup can't absorb a six-figure surcharge, why not take a lower salary or pay it out of savings to make the sponsorship happen? The answer sits in US labor law, not in what either side is willing to agree to. 📊 Reading the 2026 H-1B Fee Structure Employer Liability Matrix The table above breaks down every fee tied to a new H-1B petition and who is legally on the hook for each one. Four of the five components — the base I-129 filing fee, the ACWIA training fee, the fraud prevention fee, and the asylum program fee — total roughly $3,380 and have always been the sponsoring employer's responsibility by law. None of them can be passed to the employee in any form, including a lower negotiated salary. The $100,000 Presidential Proclamation surcharge follows the same rule on paper: employer-only, no exceptions. Its "Enjoined / Pending Appeal...