What the $100K H-1B Fees Mean for SMBs and Why Borderless Teams Win

An Overview of the H-1B Program

For years, the H-1B visa program was the bridge between U.S. universities and the industries hungry for the talent they produced. It let international graduates stay, contribute, and fuel sectors where demand for skills outpaced supply.

And it wasn’t just the Googles and Intels of the world that benefited. Small and midsized businesses leaned heavily on H-1Bs to compete, often hiring the engineer, researcher, or analyst they couldn’t find locally. For many, it was the difference between breaking through or stalling out of a market entry.

Some Quick Context:

• Nearly 70% of H-1B recipients were trained in U.S. universities.
• Tech, biotech, and finance were the biggest beneficiaries.
• The top five affected countries will be India (71% of approved applicants), China, the Philippines, Canada, and South Korea.
• SMBs tapped the program to scale with the right people at the right time.

But with the most recent regulatory shift, the system is no longer built for the scrappy ones. What used to be a lifeline for startups is quickly becoming a gated pathway for multinationals.

• Filing fees are ballooning into six figures ($100 000 once-off application fee per worker sponsored). A company sponsoring 15 H-1B workers for example, could face $1.5 million in additional hiring expenses.
• Compliance costs will keep piling on.
• The process now favors companies with billion-dollar budgets and entire legal departments on standby.

That Leaves Us With Hard Consequences:

• SMBs are locked out of vital skills.
• The U.S. risks a brain drain as global talent takes their expertise back home.
• Innovation slows because access to the right people gets shut down.

But it’s all a matter of perspective – with the introduction of remote work and distributed teams, the future of work has shifted into one that allows for borderless opportunity.

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Learn more about the H-1B visa - requirements, fees, and how sponsorship works.

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The Rising Cost of Entry

For decades, the U.S. offered a simple story: study hard, stay after graduation, and help build the next wave of technology and business. The H-1B was the mechanism that made that story real.

Today, the cost of entry has spiraled. As of September 21, 2025, a presidential proclamation now requires a $100,000 payment for any new H-1B petition filed for a worker outside the U.S. – a one-time fee layered on top of existing charges. The Department of Labor has also been directed to raise prevailing wage levels, ensuring employers must pay higher minimum salaries for H-1B workers.

A brilliant engineer in Mumbai or Warsaw may still want to chase that opportunity, but their future hinges on whether a founder, already juggling capital, customers, and survival, is willing (or able) to pour tens of thousands of dollars into paperwork before the first line of code is written.

More often than not, the answer will be no. And every “no” closes the door on potential breakthroughs.

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What This Means for SMBs

A $100,000 annual fee puts hiring foreign talent out of reach for small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S. The result is predictable: top global talent won’t wait around. Instead, they’ll turn to employers in regions like Europe, the UK, LATAM, and APAC, where visa processes are more accessible and opportunities are expanding.

The U.S. has traditionally been a powerhouse for global tech talent. Imposing what amounts to a $100K “luxury tax” on work visas threatens to stall that momentum. 

On the other hand, the demand for specialized skills isn’t going anywhere. What’s changing is how SMBs can access that expertise. Today’s hiring landscape is shaped by three key realities:

1. You still need access to the best people.
2. You need to do it on a budget that doesn’t bankrupt you.
3. You need to stay competitive against firms ten times your size.
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If SMBs can’t bring global talent to the U.S., they’ll adapt. Smart companies won’t import skills, they’ll export jobs. It means borderless work isn’t a trend – it is becoming the only sustainable way to hire.

Brendon Silver, CEO of Playroll

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The Smarter Alternative

The alternative to H-1Bs isn’t radical. It’s already here, and used by hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide: hire people where they are. Instead of relocation headaches, leverage an Employer of Record model. With Playroll, you can:

• Run the numbers: Use our Employee Cost Calculator to instantly see what hiring in 180+ countries really costs.
  
• Think borderless: Employ global talent directly with an expert EOR solution. We handle contracts, compliance, and payroll, so you don’t have to.
  
• Protect your margins: With our Compensation Benchmarking Tool, compare salaries across markets to keep costs in check while staying competitive.
  
• Win talent faster: Playroll can onboard employees in days, not months, ensuring you don’t lose candidates to red tape or policy shifts.
  

Distributed teams bring resilience and retention. It also shields your hiring strategy from the next policy or visa shift, ensuring your workforce can keep growing without disruption.

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Why Does This Matter?

This policy is framed as protecting U.S. jobs, but in reality it accelerates a different trend entirely. COVID forced companies into remote-first models. A $100K visa fee makes borderless hiring the default, not the exception.

 The next wave of tech hubs won’t be in the places with the most restrictive rules — they’ll emerge where barriers are lowest, and where companies can tap talent without friction. For SMBs, that’s an opportunity: with the right EOR partner, they can suddenly compete with the biggest players for global talent.

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Where barriers rise, innovation leaves. Where barriers fall, the future of work is built.

Jacqueline Ostrov, Head of Marketing & Partnerships, Playroll

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At Playroll, we’ve built the infrastructure to make this possible. With compliant entities in 180+ markets, we take care of onboarding, payroll, compliance, and benefits on your behalf. When immigration risk rises, the Employer of Record model lets you hire anywhere, without the cost, red tape, or wait.

Borders may be getting harder and pricier to navigate – but talent is still boundless. The companies that lean into building borderless teams now will be the ones shaping the next decade of work. Why not start building your team with Playroll? Book your free consultation with our team today to get started.

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Need a Secure Alternative to H-1B?

Hire globally without the immigration risk. With our expert EOR services, you’ll get fast, compliant, and audit-ready hiring – without the steep price tag.

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