DHS Expands the $4,000 H-1B / $4,500 L-1 Biometric Fee to Same-Employer Extensions, Effective September 9, 2026

On August 10, 2026, DHS published a final rule expanding the "9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee" — the statutory $4,000 H-1B / $4,500 L-1 charge better known as the "50-50 fee" — to cover same-employer extension-of-status petitions. Until now, covered employers only paid it on initial H-1B or L-1 petitions and on petitions involving a change of employer. Starting September 9, 2026, they will owe it on every qualifying extension too, even one where nothing about the job or the employer has changed.

What we know from the Federal Register

• RIN: 1651-AB48
• Docket: USCBP-2024-0009; CBP Dec. No. 26-11
• Agency / Subagency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Citation: 91 FR 51360
• Action: Final rule
• Published: August 10, 2026
• Effective: September 9, 2026 (30 days after publication)

DHS final rule requiring covered employers to submit the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 Visas for all extension of status petitions, regardless of whether the related fraud prevention and detection fee applies.DHS/CBP, Federal Register, 91 FR 51360 (August 10, 2026)

Who counts as a "covered employer"

The fee has always targeted a specific slice of H-1B and L-1 sponsors, informally known as "50-50" employers: those with at least 50 employees in the United States, where more than half of that U.S. workforce holds H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B status. That test itself has not changed. What changed is which petitions trigger the fee once an employer meets it — the rule now reaches same-employer extensions, not just new hires and petitions that move a worker to a new sponsoring employer.

Why DHS says it is doing this now

DHS's stated position is that its earlier reading of the statute was "too narrow," and that Congress intended the fee to apply to all extension-of-status petitions filed by covered employers — independent of whether a separate fraud prevention and detection fee also applies to the same filing. In practice, that closes a gap where a covered employer could avoid the biometric fee entirely on a worker's second, third, or fourth H-1B or L-1 extension simply because nothing else about the petition had changed.

The one carve-out: amended petitions

The rule does not reach amended petitions that do not themselves request an extension of stay — for example, an amendment filed solely to reflect a worksite change. If a filing is not asking USCIS to extend the underlying period of stay, the expanded fee does not attach to it. Employers filing combined extension-and-amendment petitions should confirm with counsel whether their specific filing falls on the extension side of that line.

Who actually pays this

This fee sits on top of, not instead of, standard H-1B and L-1 filing fees, and it is separate from the $100,000 fee created by Proclamation 10973, which remains vacated and not currently in effect (see our earlier article). It has historically fallen hardest on large IT staffing and outsourcing firms whose U.S. workforce is majority H-1B or L-1 — the "50-50" test was written specifically to capture that business model. A typical in-house employer sponsoring a handful of H-1B workers, with a workforce that is nowhere near 50% H-1B/L-1, is not a covered employer and does not owe this fee regardless of how many extensions it files.

What to do before September 9, 2026

• Covered employers with H-1B or L-1 extensions in the pipeline should check whether filing before September 9, 2026 avoids the added fee on that petition — the rule applies going forward from the effective date, not retroactively.
• Budget the extra $4,000 (H-1B) or $4,500 (L-1) per extension into future petition costs if your organization meets the 50-50 test.
• If you are an H-1B or L-1 worker at a covered employer, this fee is an employer cost, not one that can be passed on to you — the same wage and fee-shifting restrictions that already apply to H-1B sponsorship apply here.

Bottom line

If your employer is not a "50-50" H-1B/L-1 shop, this rule does not touch you. If it is, every same-employer extension filed on or after September 9, 2026 now carries the same $4,000 or $4,500 biometric fee that used to apply only to new hires and employer changes — plan petition budgets and timing accordingly.