On Friday, September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a Proclamation entitled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” that appears to require a $100,000 payment to accompany any new H-1B visa petitions submitted on or after September 21, 2025.
According to the White House, the Proclamation does not, at this time, apply to any previously issued H-1B visas, or any petitions submitted prior to September 21, 2025 that remain pending. It also does not apply to renewals or prevent any current H-1B holder from traveling in and out of the country, though many employers are advising their employees to cancel any international travel plans until further clarification is available.
Further steps as a result of the Proclamation will include rulemaking by the Department of Labor to revise and raise prevailing wage levels that petitioners are required to pay H-1B employees. We can also expect rulemaking by the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize skill and pay in the lottery system, which determines who is eligible to submit an application for the annual numerical limit of 85,000 H1-B visas each fiscal year. In 2025, registrants were required to pay $215 to register for the H1-B lottery, which has a selection rate of approximately 35.3%, for the opportunity to submit an H-1B visa petition.
The proclamation includes a provision that some workers, companies, and industries may be exempt from the fee if they are deemed to support the “national interest” and do not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the U.S. There’s currently no further guidance available on what this might look like or who may be eligible, although statements from White House staff have indicated that medical professionals may qualify for an exemption. The H1-B visa program is incredibly important to employers in health care and is a recruitment tool for to attract qualified medical providers to rural and otherwise medically underserved areas.
H-1B visas typically require at least a bachelor’s degree and work in a specialty occupation and are usually granted in terms of 3 years, which may be renewed once for a total of 6 years. Prior to the $100,000 fee, here were the general fees for an H-1B petition:
- Filing Fee of $780
- Asylum Program Fee of $600
- Fraud Prevention Fee of $500
- American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) fee of $1,500
- Additional fees apply for employers who have a large percentage of employees in H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B nonimmigrant status.
It remains unclear whether President Trump has the authority to unilaterally increase the cost of an H1B visa by such a large amount. We expect to see legal challenges in the coming weeks. In addition, time will tell exactly how the new policy is being administered both at the border and when new petitions are submitted from within the U.S.