More than two lakh applicants paid USD 100,000 to fast-track their H-1B visa applications for employment in the United States during fiscal year 2026, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Senate panel on Tuesday.
Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Mullin said the DHS had received around 2.86 lakh H-1B applications so far in FY2026.
"We had 286,000 applicants a year to date for the H-1B visas, out of those, over 200,000 of them paid USD 100,000 to be able to come in because it allows us to process them in a little bit faster of a manner," Mullin said in response to a question from Senator Susan Collins regarding the shortage of doctors in rural America.
According to Mullin, applicants who pay the fee have their cases processed in approximately 15 days, while standard applications take nearly 7.5 months.
Collins highlighted the burden on rural healthcare providers, telling the subcommittee that a hospital in Presque Isle, northern Maine, recently paid the fee to recruit an overseas surgeon.
She argued that healthcare providers in underserved regions should be treated differently from employers hiring skilled workers in sectors with larger domestic talent pools.
"Would you be willing to consider carving out an exemption for medical professionals from this fee when a community can demonstrate that there is not a medical professional available?" Collins asked.
Mullin said the department would examine possible solutions and consider whether greater flexibility could be applied to such cases individually.
"I would suggest that there's a huge difference between bringing in a computer expert from another country to work in wealthy California and Silicon Valley versus a much-needed surgeon to work at a rural hospital in northern Maine," she said.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also raised concerns over teacher shortages in rural districts in her state.
"I'll follow up with you about the issue that I raised previously with regards to H-1B visas for teachers," Murkowski told Mullin.
(With inputs from PTI)