I-129 Fees: Base, Supplemental, Cap, and Premium Processing

Filing Form I-129 costs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well over $10,000 per petition, and the I-129 filing fees you actually owe depend on the visa classification, your employer size, and which supplemental fees stack on top. USCIS restructured the fee schedule on April 1, 2024, creating separate tiers for large employers, small employers, and nonprofits. Premium processing fees went up again on March 1, 2026. Miss any component and USCIS rejects the whole package, so every piece matters.

Base Filing Fees by Classification

Every I-129 petition starts with a base fee tied to the classification you’re requesting. USCIS treats an employer with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees as a “small employer,” and qualifying nonprofits described in the Form I-129 instructions get the same reduced rate. Some classifications also offer a small discount for filing online instead of on paper.

H-1B and H-1B1: $780 by paper or $730 online for large employers; $460 for small employers and nonprofits.¹
L-1 intracompany transferee: $1,385 for large employers; $695 for small employers and nonprofits.¹
O-1 and O-2 extraordinary ability: $1,055 for large employers; $530 for small employers and nonprofits.¹
E-1, E-2, E-2C, E-3, TN, H-3, P, and Q: $1,015 for large employers; $510 for small employers and nonprofits.²
R-1 religious workers: $510.²
H-2B named workers: $1,080 for large employers; $540 for small employers and nonprofits.¹
H-2A named workers: $1,090 by paper or $1,040 online for large employers; $545 for small employers and nonprofits.²

The base fee is only the beginning. Most filings pull in at least one supplemental fee, and H-1B petitions typically pull in several.

Supplemental Fees That Stack on Top

Asylum Program Fee

Every I-129 petitioner pays the Asylum Program Fee unless they’re a qualifying nonprofit. Large employers owe $600 and small employers owe $300.³ Qualifying nonprofits are fully exempt.⁴

ACWIA Fee (H-1B Only)

The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act fee applies to most H-1B filings. Employers with 26 or more full-time equivalent employees pay $1,500; employers with 25 or fewer pay $750.⁵ It’s required on initial H-1B petitions, changes of employer, and the first extension with the same employer. A second or later extension with the same employer doesn’t trigger it, and neither does an amendment that doesn’t extend the stay.

Some employers are fully exempt from the ACWIA fee regardless of filing type: higher education institutions and their related or affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit and government research organizations, primary and secondary schools, and nonprofits that run established curriculum-related clinical training programs for students.⁵

Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee

A flat $500 applies to initial H-1B and L-1 petitions and to petitions where the worker is changing employers. It doesn’t apply to extensions or amendments filed by the same employer.⁶ Employer size doesn’t change the amount.

Public Law 114-113 Fee for H-1B/L-1 Dependent Employers

If you employ 50 or more workers in the United States and more than half of them hold H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B status, you owe an extra $4,000 per H-1B petition or $4,500 per L-1 petition.⁷ This surcharge applies to both initial petitions and extensions and hits outsourcing and staffing firms hardest.

H-1B Cap Registration Fee

Cap-subject H-1B petitions have a cost before you even get to Form I-129. Each electronic registration in the annual H-1B cap selection process costs $215 per beneficiary, non-refundable whether you’re selected or not.⁸ Selection then lets you file the I-129 with all applicable fees; non-selection means the $215 is gone.

What a Typical H-1B Filing Actually Costs

The stacking catches many first-time petitioners off guard. For a large employer (26 or more workers, not H-1B dependent) filing an initial cap-subject H-1B, the fees add up like this:

H-1B registration: $215
Base I-129 fee: $780 paper or $730 online
Asylum Program Fee: $600
ACWIA fee: $1,500
Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee: $500

That’s $3,595 before attorney fees or premium processing. A small employer would pay less on the base and ACWIA fees but still lands around $2,205. An H-1B-dependent employer adds another $4,000 on top of either total.

Premium Processing

Premium processing is optional. Paying it obligates USCIS to take some action within 15 business days: an approval, a denial, a request for evidence, or a notice of intent to deny. Faster processing doesn’t improve approval odds; it only compresses the timeline.⁹

Effective March 1, 2026, USCIS raised premium processing fees. Any Form I-907 postmarked on or after that date must include the new amount or it will be rejected.¹⁰

Most I-129 classifications (H-1B, L-1, O-1, E, TN, P, H-3, and others): $2,965, up from $2,805.¹⁰
H-2B and R-1 classifications: $1,780, up from $1,685.¹⁰

If USCIS misses the 15-business-day window, it refunds the premium processing fee and the petition keeps moving through normal processing.

Fees the Employer Must Absorb

For H-1B petitions, federal law prohibits requiring the worker to pay or reimburse the ACWIA training fee or the $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee. Those are always the employer’s cost.¹¹

Other petition costs, including the base filing fee, premium processing, and attorney fees, can’t be deducted from the worker’s pay if the deduction would drop compensation below the required wage — the higher of the actual wage paid to similarly employed workers or the prevailing wage for the position.¹¹ Violations expose the employer to back-pay liability and possible debarment from the H-1B program.

How to Pay

USCIS changed how it accepts payment in late 2025. As of October 28, 2025, the agency no longer takes personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper filings.¹² Paper filers now have two options:

Credit, debit, or prepaid card using Form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions), placed on top of the petition package.¹³
ACH debit from a bank account using Form G-1650.¹²

Filing Form I-129 online through a USCIS account routes payment through Pay.gov.¹⁴ Online filing also carries a small discount on certain base fees, such as $730 instead of $780 for H-1B.²

If a Payment Fails or the Petition Is Denied

Filing fees are generally non-refundable. A denial on the merits does not get your money back. If your payment bounces or comes back unfunded, USCIS will try to resubmit once. If that second attempt also fails, the agency may reject or deny the filing and void any receipt notice already issued, meaning you lose your original filing date.¹⁵ Confirm funds are available before filing; a failed payment can cost you months.

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 106.2 – USCIS Fee Schedule
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Reminds Certain Employment-Based Petitioners to Submit the Correct Required Fees
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions on the USCIS Fee Rule
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H and L Filing Fees for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 2 Part L Chapter 7 – Filing
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Fee Increase for Certain H-1B and L-1 Petitions (Public Law 114-113)
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How Do I Request Premium Processing
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Fees
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62H: What Are the Rules Concerning Deductions From an H-1B Workers Pay
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Modernize Fee Payments with Electronic Funds
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Pay With a Credit Card by Mail
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Manual Volume 1 Part B Chapter 3 – Fees