The H1B $100K fee is a $100,000 payment that a presidential proclamation of 19 September 2025 attached to certain new H-1B petitions. The employer pays it, not the worker, and it is aimed at people outside the United States who need a visa or admission at the border to start H-1B work. A second proclamation renewed it through 21 September 2027. When we checked on 17 October 2026, though, it was not being collected: two federal courts have blocked the agency policies that put it into effect, and the government is appealing. This post sets out what the primary documents say about who pays, who is covered, who is not, and how a job seeker should plan around a rule that may switch back on.
It is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, talk to an immigration attorney or, if you are a student, your school's international office.
What the fee is
Proclamation 10973, "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers," restricts the entry of H-1B specialty occupation workers "except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000." It took effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 21 September 2025 and was set to expire 12 months later.
It is not a USCIS filing fee in the usual sense. It rests on the President's power to restrict entry under sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it sits on top of the regular petition fees. USCIS's H-1B Specialty Occupations page says a petition subject to it must include proof from pay.gov that the payment has been scheduled for that specific worker, or evidence of an exception, and that a petition filed without either "will be denied."
On 18 September 2026 the President signed Proclamation 11069, which extends the 2025 proclamation "for an additional 12 months, until 12:00 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2027." Its restriction and its exceptions are worded as they were in 2025, and it was published in the Federal Register on 23 September 2026.
Is it being collected right now?
No, as of 17 October 2026. Here is the sequence, taken from USCIS's alert page and the court's own order:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 19 Sep 2025 | Proclamation 10973 signed |
| 21 Sep 2025 | Payment requirement takes effect for petitions filed from 12:01 a.m. eastern time |
| 8 Jun 2026 | The District of Massachusetts vacates USCIS's guidance implementing the payment in State of California v. Mullin |
| 24 Jul 2026 | The First Circuit denies the government's request to stay that order |
| 18 Sep 2026 | Proclamation 11069 renews the requirement through 21 Sep 2027 |
| 30 Sep 2026 | The Northern District of California vacates and enjoins the agency policies under both proclamations in Global Nurse Force v. Trump |
USCIS's wording on the first ruling is that DHS "strongly disagrees" but "will comply with the court's order while DHS considers next steps," and that "if this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment."
The second ruling matters because it reaches the renewal. In its 30 September order, the court enjoined the agencies from "enforcing or implementing the Agency Policies made pursuant to or in implementation of Proclamation No. 10973 and its extension in Proclamation No. 11069, until notice-and-comment rulemaking" has been done. Two limits are worth knowing. The court vacated the agency policies, not the proclamations themselves. And the issue is not settled: the same order notes that a federal court in Washington, D.C. upheld the proclamation and its fee in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's case, which is on appeal at the D.C. Circuit. The government has appealed: the Ninth Circuit opened the case (No. 26-6667) on 9 October 2026 after receiving the notice of appeal, and VisaVerge reports that the government also asked for the California order to be paused.
So the practical position is that the rule exists, the payment is not being required, and a ruling from any of the three appeals courts now hearing these cases could change that quickly. Check the USCIS alert page before you rely on any summary, this one included.
Who pays it
The employer. The proclamation's compliance section says employers "shall, prior to filing an H-1B petition on behalf of an alien outside the United States, obtain and retain documentation showing that the payment ... has been made." USCIS directs petitioners to pay through pay.gov before filing.
Whether an employer can shift the cost to you is a separate question, and the honest answer is that no rule we found addresses the $100,000 payment by name. What does exist is the Department of Labor's wage rule at 20 CFR 655.731. It says a deduction from an H-1B worker's wages may not recoup the employer's business expenses, "including attorney fees and other costs connected to the performance of H-1B program functions which are required to be performed by the employer, e.g., preparation and filing of LCA and H-1B petition." It also treats any business expense the employer imposes on the worker that pushes wages below the required wage as an unauthorized deduction, even if it never appears on a payroll record. The Form I-129 instructions add that one of the regular fees, the ACWIA training fee, "may not be assessed to the beneficiary."
If an offer letter or contract asks you to repay sponsorship costs, including this payment, have an immigration lawyer read it before you sign.
Who it applies to
USCIS's H-1B page lists the cases covered, for petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on 21 September 2025:
- Workers outside the United States who do not have a valid H-1B visa.
- Petitions that ask for consular notification, port of entry notification or pre-flight inspection, even for someone who is in the United States now. These are the requests that send the worker abroad to pick up the visa or be admitted at the border.
- Change of status, amendment or extension requests that fail. If USCIS decides the worker is not eligible for the change or extension, "for example, is not in a valid nonimmigrant visa status or if the alien departs the United States prior to adjudication of a change of status request," the payment applies.
The renewal says the same thing in its own words: it reaches people who "must seek admission to the United States to effectuate the approval of a petition," including through consular notification, a port of entry, pre-flight inspection or pre-clearance.
Nothing in either proclamation carves out cap-exempt employers such as universities and nonprofit research organizations. The only exceptions in the text are the national interest ones covered below. A cap-exempt employer hiring someone from abroad is in the same position as any other employer.
Who it does not apply to
Per the same USCIS page, the payment does not apply to:
- Visas already issued that are still valid.
- Petitions filed before 12:01 a.m. eastern time on 21 September 2025.
- A petition for someone inside the United States requesting an amendment, change of status or extension of stay, "where the alien is granted such amendment, change, or extension."
- Travel afterwards. A worker approved that way is not treated as subject to the payment if they later leave, apply for a visa on the approved petition, or come back on a current H-1B visa. The proclamation also does not stop a current H-1B visa holder from traveling in and out.
For job seekers, that third point covers the two most common situations: an F-1 student in the United States whose employer files for a change of status to H-1B, and an H-1B worker in the United States moving to a new employer. Our guide to the H-1B transfer walks through the second one.
Exceptions. Both proclamations let the Secretary of Homeland Security exempt an individual, all workers at a company, or all workers in an industry when the hiring "is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States." USCIS describes its standard as an "extraordinarily rare circumstance" and adds conditions of its own: that no American worker is available to fill the role and that requiring the payment "would significantly undermine the interests of the United States." Requests go by email to DHS. Do not plan a search around getting one.
The other six-figure number: a proposed $103,265 fee
Searches for the $100,000 fee often turn up a second figure, and it is a different rule. On 25 August 2026 DHS proposed "a $103,265 fee, payable at the time of filing, for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption."
| $100,000 payment | Proposed $103,265 fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Presidential proclamation restricting entry | DHS fee rule under the immigration statute |
| Status on 17 Oct 2026 | Renewed through 21 Sep 2027, implementing policies blocked by two courts | Proposed; comments closed 24 Sep 2026; no final rule found |
| Who it targets | Petitions for workers who must enter from abroad | All cap-subject petitions, inside or outside the US |
| Cap-exempt employers | No carve-out in the text | Would not pay it |
| Paid by | Employer | Employer (petitioner) |
Three details from the proposal itself matter here. DHS says it would be "in addition to all other applicable fees or payments," so a petitioner subject to both "would be required to pay both amounts." DHS chose to "not require the fee to be paid with a petition for a cap-exempt H-1B nonimmigrant." And its cost estimate assumes 85,000 cap-subject petitions a year, the number that come through the lottery. As proposed, then, it is a lottery-petition fee, and it would reach the F-1 student changing status inside the country, which the $100,000 payment does not.
Proposals can change before they become final, or never become final. When we searched the Federal Register on 17 October 2026, there was no final rule.
A third proposal is aimed at students directly. On 8 October 2026 DHS proposed OPT fees of "$70,000 for initial OPT; and $30,000 for any subsequent OPT." The proposed text puts the payment on the school that recommends the OPT, and DHS writes that schools "may mitigate their budgetary impact by passing the financial obligation of this proposed fee onto F-1 nonimmigrant students, all students, or employers." Comments are due by 9 November 2026.
How employers are responding
The best numbers come from the administration itself, so read them as its claims rather than independent findings. Proclamation 11069 states that:
- the $100,000 payment "has been made for over 700 petitions" since September 2025,
- the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms cut their combined H-1B registrations "from 24,946 to 2,055, a 92 percent decrease,"
- consular processing requests fell "nearly 97 percent" from the FY 2025 to the FY 2027 cap seasons, and
- registrations for beneficiaries with at least a US master's degree rose from 45.1 percent of registrants for FY 2026 to 66.1 percent for FY 2027.
Total demand fell too. SHRM reported, citing preliminary USCIS figures, that 211,600 registrations were submitted for FY2027, down 38.5 percent from 343,981 the year before. That season was also the first under wage-weighted selection, where a level IV wage enters the pool four times and a level I wage once, so the fee is not the only cause. Our H-1B lottery post covers the weighted system.
Employers have also gone to court. The plaintiffs in the California case include a small automotive parts manufacturer in Detroit, a kidney care practice in rural North Carolina, and a K to 12 school on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota, according to the order. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce brought the D.C. case.
Scrutiny is rising alongside the cost. An executive order signed the same day as the renewal tells the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security to take into account, in any LCA, petition, visa or entry, whether the sponsor "engaged in layoffs within the previous year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect the employment of similarly situated United States workers." It also tells the Labor Department to begin reviewing previously submitted LCAs within 30 days.
What it means for your search
The fee changes which employers can say yes cheaply, and that depends on where you are standing.
| Your situation | The $100,000 payment, if reinstated | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| F-1 student in the US, employer files a change of status | Does not apply if the change of status is granted | Stay in valid status and in the country until the case is decided |
| H-1B worker in the US changing employers | Does not apply if the extension of stay is granted | Ask whether the petition will request consular notification, because that brings the payment back in |
| Living outside the US, no valid H-1B visa | Applies | Expect employers to be far more selective, and ask early whether they will pay |
| Offer from a university or nonprofit research employer | Applies if you are abroad; no exemption in the text | The lottery is not in your way, but the payment can be |
A few habits follow from that.
Ask early, and ask the specific question. "Do you sponsor?" is not enough any more. Ask whether the team sponsors for this role this year, and if you are abroad, whether the company has filed petitions that required the payment. A company's sponsorship history is a weaker predictor than it was, which is why our guide to companies that sponsor H1B starts with the USCIS data and ends with the recruiter conversation.
Do not leave the country with a change of status pending. USCIS's own example of when the payment applies to someone already here is a person who "departs the United States prior to adjudication of a change of status request." If the payment is reinstated, that trip could put a $100,000 cost on your employer's side of the table.
Look at cap-exempt employers, with care. Universities, their affiliated nonprofits and research organizations skip the lottery and would skip the proposed $103,265 fee. They are not exempt from the $100,000 payment for a hire coming from abroad. Our H-1B cap-exempt guide covers how to find them.
Answer sponsorship questions truthfully. Higher costs make some employers filter harder on the "will you require sponsorship" question. Answering "no" to get through only moves the problem to the offer stage, where the employer finds out anyway because it files the petition.
Watch three pages, not the news. The USCIS alert page, the Federal Register for a final $103,265 rule, and your school's international office. Coverage of this rule has run ahead of the documents more than once.
If you use software to apply, the same honesty rule applies to it. ApplyEze takes hard facts from your profile and reuses the work authorization answers you save. When a required question is not covered by them, it still fills it rather than stopping the run, so that answer may not come from you. Fill in your saved answers, use dry run first, and read your receipts.