How the $100,000 H-1B Fee Fight Is Reshaping Tech Hiring

For a year, the H-1B visa program that brings specialized foreign workers to American employers has been rewritten twice: once by presidential proclamation, and now by regulation. The proclamation, signed September 19, 2025, imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the United States. A federal court vacated it in June 2026, and an appeals court has since kept it blocked.

Rather than appeal that loss alone, the Department of Homeland Security published a separate proposal in late August 2026 that would attach a $103,265 fee to every new H-1B petition filed under the annual cap, not just those from applicants abroad. The two fees rest on different legal footing, and only one of them is currently blocked.

What the Original Proclamation Did

President Trump's September 19, 2025 proclamation, titled "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers," took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 21, 2025, according to USCIS. It required a $100,000 payment for new H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries outside the country, with petitioners submitting proof of payment from pay.gov or evidence of an exception granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The proclamation applied only to entry from abroad. It did not apply to H-1B transfers, amendments, extensions, or change-of-status petitions filed and approved from within the United States, according to law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp. Under the proclamation's own terms, it was set to run for 12 months, expiring September 21, 2026, unless extended.

The Court Fight

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated the proclamation's implementing guidance on June 8, 2026. According to a summary from law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp, the First Circuit found the government had not shown it was likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal when it tried to reinstate the fee.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit declined to revive the fee on July 24, 2026, while the underlying appeal continues, meaning the fee cannot currently be enforced. USCIS has said it still plans to collect the payment if the court order is lifted. The administration could still seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court, or the First Circuit could rule on the merits before the proclamation's own September 21, 2026 expiration date arrives.

What the Fee Actually Did to Applications

Between September 21, 2025, and February 15, 2026, DHS recorded fee payments for only 85 qualifying H-1B applications, according to IEEE Spectrum's review of government figures, an 87% decline in applications subject to the tax compared with the same period a year earlier. IEEE Spectrum reported this shortfall left the government with roughly $20 million less revenue than the year before.

IEEE Spectrum reported that companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Walmart advised H-1B-holding employees against international travel over re-entry concerns during the period the fee was in force. Amid the shifting rules, the outlet reported, employers responded by "building offices and hiring workers abroad." Immigration scholar Julia Gelatt told the outlet some of the affected jobs could simply relocate outside the country.

The New Regulatory Fee

DHS's late-August 2026 proposal would create a $103,265 fee on H-1B cap-subject petitions, payable at filing, on top of existing government fees, according to a summary of the notice from nonprofit research group Institute for Progress (IFP). Unlike the proclamation, which applied only to petitions from abroad, the new fee would cover all 85,000 initial cap-subject petitions, including change-of-status filings from international students already in the country. Cap-exempt petitions, such as those from universities and nonprofit research organizations, and petitions to extend or change existing H-1B status, would not be subject to the fee.

DHS estimates the fee would raise about $8.8 billion annually, according to IFP's summary, with roughly 64% of that revenue directed to agencies outside USCIS, including $1.13 billion to ICE and CBP for enforcement, $2.96 billion to the Department of Justice's immigration courts, and $700 million to the Department of Labor for wage enforcement and legal support. IFP's summary notes DHS's own rulemaking acknowledges petitioners would be funding programs "to which they have no connection." Because the fee is being proposed through the formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process rather than by presidential proclamation, it rests on different legal authority — the IFP analysis cites sections 286(m) and (n) of the Immigration and Nationality Act — which the administration may argue makes it more durable against the kind of court challenge that struck down the proclamation. The public comment period runs through September 24, 2026, and the fee is not yet in effect.

A Second Change Already in Force

Separately from the fee fight, DHS has already replaced the H-1B program's random lottery with a weighted selection system, effective February 27, 2026, according to Boston University's international students office. Registrations are now sorted into four Department of Labor wage tiers, and a petition offering the top tier, Level IV, is entered into the selection pool four times; Level III, three times; Level II, twice; and Level I, once. The change applies to both the 65,000-visa regular cap and the 20,000-visa exemption for advanced-degree holders from U.S. institutions, according to Boston University's international students office.

The weighted lottery took effect for the registration season that began in March 2026 and operates independently of whichever fee, if any, ultimately survives the courts and the rulemaking process.

Who Files the Most H-1B Petitions

Large technology companies remain the program's biggest users. For continuing H-1B employment in fiscal year 2025, Amazon topped the list with more than 14,000 approvals, according to a summary of government data published by International Legal and Business Services Group; Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google also ranked among the top companies. Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google were also the top four companies for new H-1B petitions that year, the same summary noted, citing USCIS figures showing more than 28,000 unique employers received at least one H-1B approval.