A $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions was imposed in September 2025, struck down in June 2026, and blocked again on appeal in July, with the case still moving. Whichever way the courts rule, the lesson for engineering leaders is the same: a talent strategy that depends on visa policy is one you do not control.
For a year now, US engineering leaders have been planning headcount around a number that keeps changing. In September 2025, a Presidential Proclamation imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, for workers processed through consulates abroad. In December, state attorneys general sued. On June 8, 2026, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled the fee unlawful, then stayed his own decision while the government appealed. On July 24, the First Circuit declined to extend that pause, which means the fee is not currently being collected, though USCIS guidance lags and the government's appeal, possibly headed to the Supreme Court, continues.
If reading that paragraph felt exhausting, that is the point. This article is not a legal update and is not a prediction of how the appeal ends. It is about what the whiplash itself tells you: international hiring through the visa system has become a policy-dependent line item, and the companies that respond best are not the ones guessing the ruling; they are the ones redesigning their talent supply so the ruling matters less.
What Does the H-1B Fee Mean for Engineering Teams?
The $100,000 H-1B fee, currently blocked by courts but still under appeal, makes visa-dependent hiring more expensive and less predictable for US engineering teams. Even if the fee dies in court, the past year has shown that immigration policy can reprice international talent overnight, pushing companies toward talent models they control, including nearshore teams that need no visas at all.
Note what the fee never touched: engineers who work from where they live. A senior developer in Costa Rica or Colombia collaborating with your US team in real time requires no petition, no lottery, no consular appointment, and no exposure to whichever way the next proclamation or court order goes. That is why the deepest consequence of this fee is not the $100,000 itself. It is the strategic repricing of every hiring channel that depends on a government queue.
Who Actually Pays for the H-1B Fee?
Employers pay first, in fees or in caution. The fee applies to new petitions, not renewals, and targets companies that sponsor workers from abroad. Forrester's analysis projected that the largest IT service providers could face on the order of $500 million in additional annual fees, with an industry-wide impact of around $2 billion, roughly a 3-point margin hit for visa-dependent firms.
Clients pay second, through rates. Forrester expects service providers to pass costs along, projecting onsite billing rates to rise 2 to 3% and, more structurally, an acceleration away from the traditional onsite-offshore delivery model toward more work performed entirely outside the US. If your systems integrator depended on H-1B staff at your site, your renewal quote would fall under this policy.
Candidates pay third, in narrowed options. For early-career international engineers, entering the US market has become harder, compounding the entry-level squeeze we examined in our recent piece on hiring junior developers in the AI era. The global talent is still there. The doorway moved.
Why Is Nearshore the Structural Answer Rather Than a Workaround?
Because it removes the variable instead of hedging it. Visa-based hiring answers the question "how do we bring talent here?" Nearshore answers a better question: "why does the talent need to be here at all?"
The time zones already match. LATAM engineering hubs sit within one to three hours of US time zones, so standups, pairing, and incident response happen live. This is the operating model of our nearshore staffing practice, and it is the difference between nearshore and the classic offshore model Forrester expects the fee to accelerate.
The market is already senior. Near's 2026 State of LatAm Hiring Report found that US demand for Latin American engineers grew 250% year over year, with 98% of placements at the mid or senior-level and roles routinely filled in 7 to 28 days. Compare that with a visa process measured in lotteries and fiscal years, or US senior searches measured in quarters.
The economics survive policy swings. No petition fees, no sponsorship legal costs, no risk that a court ruling reprices your pipeline in either direction. Compensation is set by the talent market, not the Federal Register. We covered how to structure these teams, from staff augmentation to dedicated pods, in our guide to AI staffing models.
The work is AI-grade. The fee arrives just as AI roadmaps make senior engineering scarcer everywhere. The same AI talent practice that staffs machine learning and MLOps roles for US clients draws on a LATAM pool that policy cannot reprice, and the outcomes are documented across our success stories.
How Should You De-Risk Your Talent Plan Now?
Audit your policy exposure. Count the roles on your roadmap that assume visa-dependent hires, directly or through vendors whose delivery model depends on them. That number is your exposure to the next ruling, whichever direction it goes.
Price your channels honestly. A US senior hire comes with premium compensation and a months-long search. A visa hire now carries legal uncertainty as a standing line item. A nearshore senior hire carries neither. Put all three on the same spreadsheet and let the roadmap decide.
Ask vendors the uncomfortable question. If a partner's rates or staffing depend on H-1B economics, ask what happens to your engagement under each legal outcome. Partners with time-zone-aligned delivery outside the visa system can answer in one sentence.
Keep the strategic hires strategic. None of this argues against hiring in the US or sponsoring exceptional people. It argues against letting a courtroom schedule decide whether your Q4 roadmap ships. Anchor strategy and product ownership in-house, and source implementation capacity through channels you control.
Common Questions About the H-1B Fee and Engineering Hiring
Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect?
As of late July 2026, no. A federal court struck down the fee on June 8, 2026, and on July 24, the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling, so the fee is not currently being collected. The government's appeal continues, however, and the outcome could still change, so employers should treat the situation as unresolved.
Who does the H-1B fee apply to?
The proclamation applied the fee to new H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, for beneficiaries processing through US consulates abroad. Renewals and existing H-1B holders were not covered. Enforcement is currently blocked by the courts while the appeal proceeds.
How does the H-1B fee affect software development costs?
Forrester projected that the fee would raise IT service delivery costs, with onsite billing rates increasing by 2 to 3% and visa-dependent providers absorbing roughly a 3-point margin hit, thereby pushing more delivery offshore. Even with the fee blocked, providers have already begun restructuring toward delivery models less dependent on US visas.
What is the alternative to H-1B hiring for engineering teams?
Nearshore hiring is the most direct alternative: senior engineers in Latin America work in US time zones without visas, petitions, or policy exposure. US demand for LATAM engineers grew 250% year over year, per Near's 2026 report, with most roles filled in 7 to 28 days at the mid or senior level.
The next ruling on this fee is not on your calendar, but your roadmap deadlines are. If you want senior engineering capacity that no court order can reprice, schedule a conversation with the Golabs team, and we will help you build it in your time zone.