Visa and immigration policy: $100,000 H-1B fee

Administration attempted to implement extreme fee for new H-1B petitions through presidential proclamation

On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation that “the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under [the H-1B visa program], is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.”¹

The proclamation was explicitly framed as hostile to the H-1B visa program as it stands, citing complaints about employers abusing it by hiring international workers, rather than American citizens, in order to suppress salaries. The proclamation also alleges that some abuses amount to a national security threat. It framed the imposition of a fee as a mechanism for combating abuses “while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers.”

Initially, it appeared that the fee would apply to all future H-1B petitions, but the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued further guidance on October 20, 2025, explaining the fee only applies to new H-1B petitions for individuals who are outside the United States.² Anyone trying to renew their existing H-1B or change their status to an H-1B while already in the country would not be subject to the fee. As it is common for students and visitors who are already in the US to transition to H-1B visas, this clarification removed a major potential barrier to their remaining in the US.

Early court ruling affirms fee’s legality

Soon after the release of the proclamation, the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the US Chamber of Commerce partnered to sue the Trump administration, arguing the fee would inflict “significant harm” on businesses and institutions of higher education because they would either “be forced to ... dramatically increase their labor costs or hire fewer highly skilled employees for whom domestic replacements are not readily available.”³

However, on December 23, 2025, the US District Court for Washington, DC ruled in favor of the federal government. The judge determined that the $100,000 fee falls under the broad authority that 8 USC 1182(f)⁴ gives to presidents to restrict the entry of foreign nationals if they believe their admittance “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”⁵

AAU and the Chamber of Commerce quickly filed a motion to appeal the decision.

Fee ultimately struck down, but administration responds with proposed rule

Two other lawsuits have also been winding their way through the court system, one led by the Global Nurse Force and another led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta with a coalition of 20 other attorneys general. In June 2026, the latter suit resulted in the US District Court of Massachusetts ruling that the fee was an unlawful tax that DHS did not have the authority to levy. DHS has suspended the fee pending further legal proceedings.

Meanwhile, in August 2026, the administration published a proposed rule to implement a $103,265 fee on all cap-subject H-1B petitions. The laws giving the immigration agencies authority to impose fees are quite clear, stating that fees must be set no higher than the amount needed to carry out the adjudication processes.⁷ DHS argues in its proposal that a six-figure fee aligns with the law because it will be used to support processing at all of the other agencies that handle different parts of the immigration system, including the departments of Labor, Justice, and State.

DHS has historically used its fees to support processing services that are free, fee-waived, or fee-exempted, such as petitions for asylum. This proposal goes much further. The agency claims that the account in which its fees are deposited, the Immigration Examinations Fee Account, was created by Congress to pay for the “entire cost” of immigrant and nonimmigrant services⁸ and that statute allows the account to reimburse “‘any appropriation’… for expenses in providing immigration adjudication and naturalization services.” DHS concludes, “Together, these provisions establish that Congress intended immigration benefit fees deposited into the IEFA to support the full costs of providing adjudication and naturalization services, and to permit reimbursement of other appropriations to the extent those appropriations fund such services” (emphasis added).⁹

Given its novel interpretation of statute and departure from precedent, the proposed rule is likely to face legal challenges of its own.

Documents

Cite this resource

AIP Policy Research, "$100,000 H-1B fee,” Visa and immigration policy guide, American Institute of Physics, 2026, https://www.aip.org/research/visa-immigration/h-1b-fee.

Last updated

September 9, 2026

Other resources

Policy primer: A new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas

SEP 25, 2025

AIP Policy Research issued a primer shortly after Trump’s proclamation explaining the authorities invoked to issue it and how it might be challenged.

---