Foreign biotech professionals face harder path to US jobs as H-1B rules shift

Changes to the United States H-1B visa programme are reducing the chances that foreign-born professionals will be hired by US biopharmaceutical companies, according to two immigration and recruitment experts. A $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions has already reshaped hiring, while further fee and eligibility changes are proposed.

Key facts

• The $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions took effect last year and was extended through 21 September 2027 last month.
• Two federal judges have blocked the fee: one ruling in June and a second late last month.
• Properly submitted H-1B registrations fell from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to 211,600 in fiscal year 2027, a 38.5% decrease.
• The annual H-1B cap is 65,000, plus 20,000 petitions exempt from the cap for people with a US master's degree or higher.
• From fiscal year 2027, a weighted selection process gives one lottery entry at the lowest wage level and four at the highest.

What is changing?

The $100,000 fee applies to new H-1B petitions and is described as a high cost for employers, particularly smaller companies. The Trump administration extended the fee through 21 September 2027 last month.

Court challenges have resulted in two federal judges blocking the fee. The first ruling came in June, two months after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B cap-subject petitions for applicants whose registrations had been selected. The second ruling arrived late last month, after the fee extension.

Who is affected?

Dave Bowers, managing director and global head of life sciences search firm EPM Scientific, said the fee "effectively shut the door on hiring talent from overseas." He said US biotech hiring teams have pivoted to candidates already authorised to work in the United States, including people transferring an H-1B visa between employers, US nationals, US graduates, US citizens and green card holders.

Bowers noted particular hiring difficulties in computational biology, AI in drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, process development and biostatistics, roles he said have often drawn on international talent pools.

Audrea Golding, a partner at immigration law firm Fragomen, said that when the H-1B lottery opened earlier this year, many companies did not enter candidates because they believed the fee would be payable if the person was outside the United States. Both experts agreed the impact is greatest on startups and small to medium-sized biotechs, for whom $100,000 is prohibitive.

What other changes are proposed?

Starting in fiscal year 2027, which runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, a weighted selection process favours higher-paid applicants: those at the lowest of four wage levels get one entry into the selection pool, while those at the highest level receive four.

In March, the Department of Labor proposed adjusting how it calculates wage levels for visa programmes including the H-1B so that levels better align with pay for similarly employed US workers. Golding said this could move someone to a lower wage level and give them fewer lottery entries.

In August, the Department of Homeland Security proposed two further changes: a $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, intended to recover some federal costs of administering the immigration system, and revised eligibility for H-1B cap exemptions, with greater scrutiny of employers that have violated programme requirements. DHS has not specified what the revisions would entail, and Golding noted that biopharma research organisations that are currently cap exempt could lose that status.

What this means for travellers

Professionals planning to work in the United States on an H-1B visa should note that employers, especially smaller biotech firms, are increasingly reluctant to sponsor new petitions from outside the country. Candidates already in the United States with work authorisation, or transferring an existing H-1B, currently face better prospects than those abroad.

Registration numbers for the fiscal year 2027 cap fell sharply, and Golding expects some companies to use the lottery next year given the rulings blocking the fee. Bowers said biopharma reluctance to hire H-1B-dependent workers is likely to remain high in 2027, particularly for early-career roles.