Recent H-1B changes mainly target large outsourcing firms, so most individual petitions with U.S. employers are still being processed.

Your startup will still need to meet the usual requirements, including the prevailing wage and lottery selection if applicable. Higher fees are proposed but not yet finalized for regular cap cases.

If your employer files during the normal H-1B lottery and pays the standard government filing fees, the rumored $100,000 fee is unlikely to apply to your case.

That figure relates to a specific proposal aimed at repeat or high-volume filings by big tech contractors, not individual hires. Processing times can still be long, so premium processing may be worth considering.

Staying in close contact with your employer’s immigration attorney will help you track any sudden rule changes.

For now, you can move forward as planned while keeping an eye on USCIS announcements. Nothing in the proposed changes prevents a legitimate U.S. startup from sponsoring a qualified foreign worker.