Uncertainty clouds new $100,000 H-1B visa fee in US
The White House has clarified that the $100,000 fee applies to all new H-1B petitions filed after 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025, including 2026 lottery applications, as a one-time charge, and does not restrict current H-1B holders from travel in or outside the US.
The information released by the US Department of State came after H-1B visa holders, potential applicants, and immigration lawyers were left scratching their heads, when the proclamation first appeared.
In it, Trump argued that some employers have “abused” the H-1B program to suppress wages, disadvantaging American workers and making it harder to attract and retain top talent, particularly in STEM fields.
According to numbers presented in the proclamation, international STEM workers in the US more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, rising from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million, with overall STEM employment having only increased 44.5% during the same time.
“Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7% in 2000 to 26.1% in 2019. And the key facilitator for this influx of foreign STEM labor has been the abuse of the H-1B visa,” read the proclamation.
“Further, the abuse of the H-1B visa program has made it even more challenging for college graduates trying to find IT jobs, allowing employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers,” it added.
But the H-1B, a US nonimmigrant work visa that lets employers hire international workers in specialised occupations requiring skilled knowledge and at least an undergraduate degree, set off panic among both employers and employees.
In 2024, Indians made up 71% of approved H-1B visas and Chinese graduates nearly 12%, prompting major tech companies like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon to urge employees to return to the US before the proclamation takes effect and avoid international travel.
One striking example of the chaos following the H-1B proclamation was a viral video of an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai, where many H-1B holders, largely Indians, chose to disembark, with the captain acknowledging passengers leaving due to “unprecedented circumstances”.
I think it’s very likely to be challenged in Federal court. The question right now is who is going to have standing to sue
James Hollis, business immigration attorney
But while the White House clarification, on Sunday, offered some relief to H-1B holders and recent applicants, questions remain over whether the fee will impact other aspects of the visa’s duration.
“I am currently in the US on a valid H-1B visa and have received a job offer, with my new employer about to file a transfer petition. There is still no clarity on whether the $100,000 rule will apply to me or others in the same situation, since the USCIS and DHS fact sheet only addresses renewals, not employer changes,” said an H-1B holder from India, who asked not to be named.
While the H-1B FAQ makes clear that the $100,000 charge does not affect fees for renewals, applicants whose petitions have already been accepted but who are still awaiting visa approval after in-person interviews now fear the new announcement has further complicated their wait.
“The H-1B process is already complex with sponsorship, a lottery system, and heavy paperwork. The $100,000 fee for new petitions and the end of the dropbox interview waiver have only further complicated things,” Meet Patel, a computer science graduate from Mumbai told The PIE News.
“These changes add major financial and procedural challenges for me in the middle of an already difficult process.”
According to some immigration lawyers, the new H-1B visa decision suggests that those drafting the policy are either unaware of the program’s nuances or intentionally creating chaos in the process.
“The White House seems to think that the proclamation is very well written and clearly lays out the scope of the order. It does not clarify if change of employer petitions or amendments or extensions require the fee,” stated James Hollis, a US business immigration attorney, and partner at McEntee Law Group.
“My general sense from reading the order is that it was intended to specifically target foreign nationals who are based abroad and are being petitioned for by US companies. But the language of the proclamation is ambiguous and we’re going to have to wait for clear confirmation before we’ll know for certain.”
The PIE has reached out to the US State Department for clarification and is awaiting a response.
While it remains to be seen if the proclamation on the H-1B visa petition fee will be challenged in federal court, such actions have been common with previous Trump-era proclamations and executive orders.
“I think it’s very likely to be challenged in Federal court. The question right now is who is going to have standing to sue. Most employers will not be filing “new employment” H-1B petitions until next year,” stated Hollis.
“The employers that would be directly impacted by the fee right now would be cap-exempt filers (like hospitals, universities, and research organisations). They are also less likely to want to file these petitions with the $100,000 fee attached.”
Hollis noted that there is currently no mechanism to pay the $100,000 fee, adding that the Trump administration “would stand a better chance of surviving litigation by using INA Section 212(f) to block certain H-1Bs than by imposing a massive fee that has no basis in law”.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, echoed the same view on Bluesky, stating that the US President has “zero authority” to impose a $100,000 visa fee.
“The President has literally zero legal authority to impose a $100,000 fee on visas. None. Zip. Zilch. The only authority Congress has ever given the executive branch here is to charge fees to recover the cost of processing the application,” read his statement.
Reactions have also come from the two biggest source countries for H-1B visa holders, India and China.
The Indian government warned the decision could have “humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families”, with one minister even suggesting US authorities are “a little afraid” of Indian talent.
While the new fee hike, 60 times the previous cost, has not prompted any official response from China’s government, social media users across the country have voiced anger at the proclamation.
“Even if Trump had outright banned H-1B entry with a single decree, it wouldn’t have been this insulting,” said one person on the video app, Xiahongshu, as reported by The Guardian.
“We have endured the hardships of studying abroad and struggling to find work in a foreign country,” said another user, lamenting that shifting immigration policies have reduced H-1B holders to “tiny specks of dust”, despite their hard work.
With further visa reforms expected in the coming months, the US government has said the Department of Labor’s goal now is to revise and raise current wage levels to upskill the H-1B program and “ensure it is used to hire only the best of the best temporary foreign workers”.
Moreover a rulemaking by the Department of Homeland Security to prioritise “high-skilled, high-paid aliens in the H-1B lottery over those at lower wage levels”, would also be implemented to reform the H-1B program.
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