H-1B $100,000 fee. . . Where are we now?

On September 18, 2026, President Trump issued a proclamation extending the $100,000 supplemental payment requirement imposed on employers filing certain H-1B visa petitions through September 21, 2027. The Trump administration previously imposed the steep H-1B fee in September 2025, but a federal court in Massachusetts vacated the fee policy and blocked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from collecting the fee in June 2026. Less than two weeks after the extension, on September 30, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a second order blocking the fee. As a result, employers are not currently required to pay the $100,000 fee, but the government has appealed, and further developments are likely.

Background: The $100,000 H-1B fee and ensuing litigation

On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation imposing a $100,000 “supplemental payment” on employers submitting petitions for new H-1B visas. Notably, the fee didn’t apply to H-1B petitions for change of status, extension of status, or change of employers. USCIS collected the $100,000 H-1B fee for approximately 10 months until federal litigation halted enforcement.

On June 8, 2026, a federal judge vacated the $100,000 fee requirement, holding that the payment functions as a tax rather than as a permissible fee. The court reasoned that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn’t grant the president power to levy taxes and that the taxing power resides exclusively with Congress under the Constitution.