Trump Extends $100,000 H-1B Entry Fee Through September 2027 Amid Court Fight

The $100,000 entry restriction is extended for 12 months

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Friday extending the existing $100,000 H-1B entry-payment requirement for another year. The White House says the restriction will continue until 12:00 a.m. Eastern time on September 21, 2027.

The policy generally restricts entry for certain H-1B specialty-occupation workers who are outside the United States unless the sponsoring petition is accompanied or supplemented by the payment. Employers must retain payment documentation, and the State Department must verify it during the visa process.

The extension is not a blanket cancellation of H-1B status and does not, by its terms, impose the payment on every current visa holder. The proclamation focuses on workers who must seek admission to effectuate approval of a covered petition.

The court fight remains unresolved

The administration issued the extension while litigation over the original policy continues. Reuters reports that a federal judge found the temporary fee unlawful and that the government is challenging that decision in a Boston appeals court.

A separate appeal concerns an earlier rejection of a challenge brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The central dispute is whether the executive branch has legal authority to condition covered H-1B entry on a payment of this size without additional approval from Congress.

The new proclamation does not resolve either case, reverse a court judgment or guarantee that the policy will survive appellate review. Its continued legal effect will depend in part on what the courts decide.

National-interest exceptions remain available

The homeland security secretary may exempt an individual worker, every covered worker at a company or workers across an industry when their employment is judged to be in the national interest and not a threat to U.S. security or welfare.

The proclamation applies to people who enter or attempt to enter after its September 21, 2026 effective date and who must seek admission through consular processing, a port of entry, preflight inspection or preclearance.

Technology companies are major users of H-1B visas, but universities, hospitals, research institutions and other employers also rely on the program. Whether a particular worker owes the payment can depend on petition timing, location, entry needs and any granted exception.

A separate permanent $103,265 fee is still only proposed

The 12-month extension should not be confused with DHS's separate proposed rule that would establish a permanent $103,265 fee for cap-subject H-1B petitions, including advanced-degree petitions. That rule has not been finalized.

The Federal Register notice identifies the permanent charge as a proposed rule and keeps public comments open through September 24, 2026. Its terms could change, and publication of a proposal does not itself create a final regulation.

The White House says more than 700 petitions have included the $100,000 payment and attributes steep declines in outsourcing-company registrations and consular requests to the payment and related program changes. Those are administration claims; the proclamation does not establish that the fee alone caused every reported change.

What happens next

Federal agencies must continue implementing the extended proclamation while the appeals proceed. The administration must also decide whether to finalize, revise or abandon the separate $103,265 rule after reviewing public comments.

For employers and workers, the practical questions remain who is covered, whether an exception applies, and whether courts permit the entry-payment requirement to continue. No reviewed source says every H-1B worker must personally pay $100,000.

What’s the Scoop With Broach will update this report when a court changes the policy's legal status or DHS takes final action on the proposed permanent fee.

About the image

The accompanying image is an authentic December 2012 photograph of a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office in DeKalb County, Georgia. Wikimedia Commons credits Gulbenk and licenses the photograph under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0.

The file image provides agency context. It does not depict an H-1B worker, a visa application, Trump, either lawsuit or the September 2026 proclamation.