The $100,000 H-1B Fee is renewed for Another Year… kind’a.
I’m sure most of you saw a headline this weekend that said Trump "extended the $100,000 H-1B fee." Well, that's true, but it's not really the whole story, so let's walk through it.
Back in September 2025, the administration issued a proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment for new H-1B visas for workers who are outside the U.S. and haven't already had an H-1B visa, essentially treating it as a cost of entry rather than a change to the underlying H-1B statute. That proclamation was only good for 12 months unless renewed, so it was set to expire last weekend. But alas, on Friday, September 18, 2026, days before it would have expired, the administration renewed it, this time through September 21, 2027. On the same day, the president also signed a second, separate order that has nothing to do with the fee at all, but with layoffs and .
What Actually Happened on September 18th
There were two distinct actions, from two different legal tools, doing two different things:
The first is a proclamation extending the $100,000 entry fee for another year. It applies to H-1B petitions for workers who are outside the United States at the time of filing. The administration's stated reasoning is that it's discouraging the "body shop" style of H-1B sponsorship, pointing to a 92% drop in H-1B registrations from large IT outsourcing and staffing firms since the original 2025 version took effect, and a claimed 97% drop in related consular-processing requests.
The second is a brand-new executive order, titled "Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program." This order directs the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to factor an employer's layoff history, including layoffs in the past year and any planned future layoffs, into how they evaluate H-1B petitions, labor condition applications, and visa issuance. It also tells the Department of Labor to go back and re-review previously submitted labor condition applications within 30 days under this new layoff lens.
Here's the distinction that actually matters for you: the fee proclamation is about people applying for entry from outside the country. The executive order is written more broadly, and immigration attorneys reviewing it have flagged that its language could reach extensions of stay, amendments, and changes of employer, meaning it isn't necessarily limited to people abroad. A lot of attorneys have also flagged that the order may overreach, so I would not be surprised to see swift litigation around this.
The Fee: Extended? Yes…Currently Enforceable? No.
This is probably one of the most important things to consider surrounding the extended fee (for now).
Back in June 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in State of California v. Mullin that the government had acted unlawfully in requiring this $100,000 payment, and vacated the DHS and State Department actions implementing it, nationwide. The administration appealed, and asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to pause that ruling while the appeal plays out. The First Circuit said no, on July 24, 2026, declining to stay the district court's judgment.
That means that as of right now, the underlying $100,000 fee requirement is not enforceable, because a federal court has vacated the rule and a federal appeals court has already refused to let the government reinstate it while that fight continues. Friday's proclamation extends the policy for another year on paper, but it doesn't undo the court order sitting on top of it. The government's appeal of the underlying ruling is still pending. So "extended through 2027" is accurate as a statement of administration intent, and it's also true that the fee currently can't be collected because of the litigation.
I'll say the obvious caveat here too: this is exactly the kind of fast-moving litigation where the status can flip with very little notice. If you're weighing a decision that depends on whether this fee applies to you, that's a conversation for an immigration attorney who can check the current status.
The New Piece: Layoffs Now Factor Into H-1B Decisions
The layoff executive order is not currently blocked by any court thus far, so treat this one as active guidance agencies are expected to start applying now, even though there's no published rule yet spelling out exactly how.
In this administration, it is standard practice to make bold announcements, with not action plan. So, with that, there isn't a published regulation defining what counts as an "indirect" layoff, whether it has to be in the same occupation or worksite as the H-1B role being requested, or how far back "the previous year" really reaches in practice. Immigration attorneys who've reviewed the order are already flagging that without clear published standards, employers could see inconsistent decisions depending on which agency or which office is reviewing their case. If you work for a company that's had layoffs in the past year, or your employer is publicly discussing future ones, this is worth a conversation with your company's immigration counsel once the dust settled… You can, of course, reach out to them now, but please be prepared to hear “we do not know yet”, because nothing is clarified around how this will be enforced.
Who Is and Isn't Affected
Both the proclamation and executive order are both H-1B-specific. They do not directly impact F-1 students, OPT, CPT, or green card categories directly. Although, a green card sponsorship that runs through an H-1B (as many do) could still be touched by the layoff-scrutiny piece.
If you already hold a valid H-1B visa and aren't filing a new petition from outside the country, the fee proclamation itself isn't something you need to act on today. If your employer is filing an extension, amendment, or change of employer petition on your behalf, that's the piece that may fall under the broader language of the new executive order, even though you're not "entering" from abroad. Unfortunately, there is still no clear guidance on that, as I mentioned above.
One More Thing on the Horizon
Separately, and please don't merge this into the story above, DHS has a different H-1B-related fee proposal moving through the regulatory pipeline: a proposed $103,265 fee tied to the H-1B registration and petition process itself, which is a regular notice-and-comment rulemaking, not a presidential proclamation. Its public comment period runs through September 24, 2026.
There's also a separate, not-yet-published proposal to add a fee to OPT for F-1 graduates; it cleared a White House regulatory review step on September 11, but as of this writing DHS has not published the actual proposed dollar amount, and the $100,000 figure being repeated in some reporting has not been confirmed in any published rule text.
TLDR
The $100,000 H-1B entry fee was extended through September 21, 2027, but it is currently unenforceable because a federal court vacated it in June and the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling in July.
A separate, currently-active executive order now directs agencies to weigh employer layoff history, past and planned, when deciding H-1B petitions, LCAs, and visas, and its language may reach people already in the U.S. filing extensions or amendments, not just new hires from abroad.
Neither action affects F-1, OPT, or CPT status directly.
If your employer has had recent layoffs or is planning a new H-1B filing from outside the U.S., don't make any decisions based on headlines. Check with your immigration attorney if you have questions on how these changes might impact you directly.
This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a licensed immigration attorney
