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Trump Extends H-1B Visa Restrictions With $100,000 Fee Push By Another Year
A year after upending the country's flagship skilled-worker visa program, the White House has renewed its restrictions just as they were set to expire, even as the centerpiece $100,000 fee remains tangled in federal court.
President Donald Trump has extended, by another year, the restrictions he first imposed on the H-1B non-immigrant visa program in September 2025, the White House said in a proclamation released on Friday, September 18. The move, reported by Reuters' Kanishka Singh, keeps in place both a broad entry restriction on certain nonimmigrant workers and the administration's push to permanently raise H-1B filing costs to at least $100,000. It is up from a longstanding fee that had ranged between roughly $2,000 and $5,000, or as some tallies put it, $960 to $7,595 depending on petition type.
The original proclamation, titled "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers," was signed on September 19, 2025, and was due to lapse this month. Instead of letting it expire, Trump chose to renew it for a second year, according to Reuters' reporting on the announcement.
As always, our EB-1A consultants have presented a detailed breakdown of what this important piece of news means for H-1B applicants and the overall U.S. immigration landscape.
A program the President has long targeted
The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to hire skilled foreign professionals for a period of several years, usually through a lottery-based allocation system. Trump, who has pursued a sweeping immigration crackdown throughout his second term, has repeatedly criticized the program. The administration has previously argued that it allows companies to sideline American workers in favor of cheaper foreign labor. The White House has framed the fee increase and entry restrictions as tools to push employers toward hiring domestically, particularly in high-skill fields.
Notably, the fee push has never applied universally. It excludes visas granted to foreign nationals already inside the United States on student visas (a group that supplies a large share of new H-1B recipients each year) as well as renewals of existing visas, according to Reuters' reporting.
The fee's rocky path through the courts
The $100,000 fee has faced sustained legal resistance since the day it was announced. On June 8, 2026, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston sided with a coalition of 20 Democratic state attorneys general and struck the fee down entirely. The ruling suggests that it functioned as an unauthorized tax that only Congress has the constitutional power to impose. New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of the plaintiffs, celebrated the decision, while the Department of Homeland Security pushed back hard, calling the ruling "blatant judicial activism" in a statement to the trade publication Staffing Industry Analysts.
The victory for challengers was short-lived. On June 12, Judge Sorokin agreed to pause his own order at the administration's request. The ruling put the fee in effect while the government pursued an emergency stay from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. That appellate review remains ongoing, according to Reuters, alongside a separate, unresolved case brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which is also challenging the same fee. In effect, Friday's one-year extension keeps the underlying policy architecture alive regardless of how those cases ultimately resolve.
Ripple effects on hiring and global operations
Beyond the courtroom, the uncertainty surrounding H-1B processing has already reshaped how major employers plan their workforces. Reuters reported that changes to how visa holders are scrutinized and processed have affected companies' hiring and expansion decisions. For instance, Alphabet, Google's parent company and one of the program's biggest users, has moved to expand operations in India rather than rely as heavily on H-1B placements in the United States. Immigration attorneys and staffing-industry analysts have said the volatility makes long-term workforce planning difficult for companies that depend on global talent pipelines.
What comes next
For now, employers and prospective H-1B applicants face a familiar mix of higher stated costs and unresolved litigation. The First Circuit's eventual ruling on the stay, and the outcome of the Chamber of Commerce's separate suit, will determine whether the $100,000 fee survives in its current form. Until then, Friday's proclamation ensures that both the entry restrictions and the fee framework remain official U.S. policy for at least another year.
At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts are relentlessly tracking the development of all the immigration policies in the U.S. landscape. Stay tuned to us to read about the latest insights and analysis. We wish you a safe and stress-free immigration journey ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What did Trump actually announce on September 18, 2026?
He extended, by another year, the restrictions on the H-1B non-immigrant visa program that he first imposed in September 2025, including the push for a $100,000 filing fee, via a White House proclamation.
2. Is the $100,000 H-1B fee currently being collected?
As of the extension, yes. A federal judge's June 8 order vacating the fee was paused on June 12 while an appeals court considers the administration's request for a stay, so USCIS has continued requiring it.
3. Why did a judge rule the fee unlawful in the first place?
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin found that the $100,000 charge functioned as a tax, and that only Congress, not the president, has constitutional authority to impose new taxes, in a June 8, 2026 ruling.
4. Who challenged the fee in court?
A coalition of 20 Democratic state attorneys general, led in part by New York's Letitia James, brought one suit; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a separate, still-pending challenge.
5. Does the $100,000 fee apply to everyone applying for an H-1B visa?
No. It does not apply to foreign nationals already in the U.S. on student visas seeking to transition to H-1B status, nor to renewals of existing H-1B visas.
6. How has the fee affected employers who rely on H-1B workers?
Some major users of the program, including Alphabet, have shifted toward expanding operations abroad, in India in particular, rather than depend as heavily on H-1B hiring in the United States.
7. What does the Trump administration say the fee is meant to accomplish?
DHS has described the changes as intended to protect program integrity and push employers to prioritize hiring American workers, particularly in high-skilled fields.
8. Could the fee still be struck down permanently?
Yes. The First Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on the government's stay request, and the Chamber of Commerce's separate lawsuit is also unresolved, so the fee's legal fate remains open.
9. How long will these restrictions now remain in place?
Friday's proclamation extends the restrictions, including the fee framework, for another year from when the original September 2025 order was due to expire.
Sources & Further Readings
- Reuters, "Trump extends restrictions on H-1B non-immigrant visa program by another year," Sept. 18, 2026 (reporting by Kanishka Singh)
- Reuters, "Trump extends push for $100,000 H-1B visas by another year," Sept. 18–19, 2026
- Staffing Industry Analysts / Healthcare Staffing Report, "Judge rules $100,000 fee for H-1B visas is unlawful," June 9, 2026
- Bloomberg Government, "Judge Agrees to Partly Pause Order Tossing $100,000 H-1B Fee," June 12, 2026
- University of Michigan International Center, "Federal Judge Blocks $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visa Applications"
- UC Berkeley International Office, "Federal Judge Strikes Down $100,000 H-1B Fee"
- Foster LLP, "Federal Court Blocks $100,000 H-1B Fee"
- Vasquez Law Firm, "Federal Judge Rules Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Unlawful [2026]"
