If you’ve searched for this, you’re probably trying to answer one question: do I (or does my sponsor) actually owe $100,000 to file an H-1B petition right now? The honest answer in September 2026 is “it depends on the date, where you are, and which court’s ruling is currently in force” — this fee has been imposed, litigated, vacated, and partially reinstated within the space of a year. Here’s what’s actually true today, and how to think about filing while it’s still unsettled.
Where this fee came from
On September 19, 2025, the White House issued a presidential proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” imposing a $100,000 supplemental payment on qualifying new H-1B petitions. USCIS published implementing guidance on October 20, 2025 clarifying scope and mechanics (USCIS alert).
The fee applied to new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025, where the beneficiary was outside the United States and did not already hold a valid H-1B visa. Payment had to be made through the Treasury Department’s Pay.gov system before filing, with proof of payment submitted alongside the petition.
Who was never subject to the fee
Even at full implementation, USCIS guidance carved out several groups:
- Anyone already holding a valid, currently-issued H-1B visa — the fee is not retroactive.
- Extensions, amendments, or changes of status filed for someone already in the US — this specifically protects F-1 students changing status to H-1B (the classic “cap-gap” case), since they aren’t entering from abroad on a new visa.
- Petitions filed before September 21, 2025, regardless of when they’re later adjudicated.
- Beneficiaries granted a national-interest exemption, a discretionary carve-out described in the proclamation but applied narrowly.
If your H-1B path runs entirely through a change of status inside the US rather than consular processing abroad, the fee was never designed to reach you — that distinction matters more than almost anything else in this fee’s structure.
The litigation: what’s actually in force right now (as of September 2026)
This fee has been through three major rulings in less than a year, and the two currently pull in different directions:
- December 2025 — a US District Court in Washington, DC (a Chamber of Commerce-led challenge) upheld the fee, finding the President had authority to impose it.
- June 8, 2026 — a US District Court in Massachusetts vacated the proclamation entirely, ruling the $100,000 charge was an unlawful tax that Congress, not the executive, would need to impose. The court briefly stayed its own ruling to let the government seek appellate relief.
- July 24, 2026 — the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s request to keep collecting the fee while its appeal proceeds. As of this ruling, USCIS should not be requiring the $100,000 payment for petitions that would otherwise fall under the proclamation.
That leaves conflicting outcomes in two different circuits, an active appeal, and a real chance the Supreme Court eventually resolves it. This is not settled law — a further stay, a circuit split resolution, or a Supreme Court order could flip collection back on with little notice.
What to actually do if you’re filing now
- Check USCIS.gov and Pay.gov immediately before filing — the fee page updates as court orders land, and this article’s snapshot will not stay accurate indefinitely (labelled unverified beyond the September 2026 date above).
- Favor a change-of-status filing over consular processing where the choice exists (e.g., F-1 to H-1B), since that path was designed to sit outside the fee’s scope regardless of litigation.
- Keep proof of your petition’s filing date — pre-September 21, 2025 filings were never in scope, and filings made during a “fee not currently collectible” window may matter later if the rule is reinstated non-retroactively.
- Talk to your sponsoring employer’s immigration counsel before assuming either way — a company filing at scale is watching this docket closely, and individual guidance should come from someone tracking the specific circuit status, not a general guide like this one.
- If you’re earlier in the process, our H-1B visa guide and H-1B lottery registration guide cover the parts of the process this fee doesn’t touch — the cap, registration, and adjudication timeline.
Frequently asked questions
Is the $100,000 fee being collected today? As of the last confirmed court action (First Circuit, July 24, 2026), USCIS should not be requiring it. Verify directly on USCIS.gov before relying on this — the appeal is ongoing and the situation has already reversed once.
Does this affect H-1B renewals or transfers for people already in the US? No — the fee was scoped to new petitions for beneficiaries outside the US without a currently valid H-1B visa. Extensions, amendments, and changes of status were excluded from the start.
If I already paid the $100,000 fee, can I get it back? That depends on the final disposition of the litigation and USCIS’s own refund policy, which isn’t settled. This is a question for immigration counsel, not something a general guide can answer reliably given the case is still on appeal.
Could the fee come back? Yes. A stay pending Supreme Court review, a favorable appellate ruling for the government, or a new proclamation could all reinstate it. Treat any point-in-time answer — including this one — as provisional.
None of this is legal advice — immigration fee litigation moves quickly and unpredictably, and a decision this consequential should be confirmed with an immigration attorney and the official USCIS fee page before you file or pay. If you’d rather have upcoming deadlines and requirement changes tracked for you as this and other rules shift, join the VisaMet waitlist.
Sources: USCIS proclamation alert, Alston & Bird — H-1B $100,000 proclamation fee explainer, Grossman Young & Hammond — litigation update, Vorys — court strikes down fee, pending appeal.