Employers Turn to L-1 Visas as H-1B Expenses Rise

US employers preparing for the March H-1B visa lottery face a sharply higher cost, with a new $100,000 fee applying to petitions for workers based outside the United States.

The H-1B registration period opens on 4 March, but the added charge is changing how companies approach foreign hiring. The fee, introduced during the Trump administration and still subject to judicial review, applies per applicant and significantly raises the financial risk of participation in the lottery.

Immigration lawyers say the cost is pushing firms to reconsider their reliance on the H-1B programme, which has long been the main entry route for skilled foreign professionals. Speaking on a recent podcast, Anna Stepanova of the Murthy Law Firm said employers are being forced to adopt alternative strategies. She said companies can no longer depend on the H-1B alone and must look at other visa options.

One alternative is the L-1 intra-company transfer visa, which allows multinational companies to move certain employees from overseas offices to the United States. The visa is split into two categories: L-1A for executives and managers, and L-1B for workers with specialised knowledge. Applicants must show a qualifying relationship between the foreign entity and the US employer, supported by formal documentation. Unlike the H-1B, the L-1 has no annual cap and does not involve a lottery.

However, the L-1 visa has its own constraints. Stepanova said companies must already have an appropriate international structure and compliance systems in place, which often requires long-term planning. Smaller businesses or those without overseas operations may find it difficult to meet the requirements quickly, limiting the visa’s short-term usefulness.

Questions about the future role of the H-1B visa have also surfaced in political discussions. India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, recently said the programme had become less relevant after the pandemic, describing it as a lottery that encourages companies to file multiple applications to secure a small number of approvals. He said global firms are no longer dependent on relocating large numbers of Indian engineers to the United States.