On September 18, 2026,
the White House issued a presidential proclamation extending its existing restrictions on the entry of certain H-1B workers for an additional 12 months.
The move keeps alive the administration's controversial $100,000 payment requirement — at least on paper —
meaning the administration intends for the requirement to remain in effect until 12:00 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2027, unless it is halted through litigation or changed through further executive or regulatory action.
But there's a significant catch:
immigration attorneys emphasize that despite the White House's aggressive push, the fee remains legally blocked by a federal court order.
What the Proclamation Does
The proclamation extends a policy first introduced in September 2025 that generally limits the admission of certain H-1B beneficiaries outside the U.S. unless the sponsoring employer satisfies specified requirements.
Specifically,
the requirement applies to certain H-1B workers who are outside the United States and must seek admission to effectuate approval of their petitions, and employers sponsoring workers covered by the proclamation generally must accompany or supplement those petitions with a $100,000 payment.
The policy has drawn opposition from major firms that rely on skilled foreign workers and will remain in place through September 21, 2027, with limited exceptions for workers, companies or industries deemed to be in the national interest.
According to the administration, the extension is intended to continue efforts to prioritize higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign talent while addressing concerns related to wage protections, labor market impacts and H-1B program integrity.
The White House declared that "the restrictions enacted by the 2025 proclamation have proven to be highly effective," and
said H-1B registrations by the largest IT outsourcing firms had fallen by 92 percent since the measure was introduced.
The Court Block: Why the Fee Is Not Currently Enforceable
Despite the proclamation's extension, employers should understand that the $100,000 fee is not currently being collected. Here's the legal timeline:
On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued Presidential Proclamation 10973, which required employers to submit a $100,000 payment with H-1B petitions for foreign nationals located outside the United States. Twenty states, led by California and Massachusetts, challenged the policy in federal court, arguing that the administration exceeded its statutory authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The states also alleged that the policy would significantly impair their ability to recruit and retain highly skilled workers for public universities, educational institutions, and healthcare systems.
On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of the states, finding the policy unlawful and vacating it in its entirety.
The court found that the $100,000 fee proclamation was not an immigration restriction, but rather a tax, which the president lacked authority to impose.
The government appealed and initially obtained a temporary administrative stay. But crucially,
on July 24, 2026, the First Circuit denied the government's motion for a stay pending appeal, concluding that the government failed to make a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal.
The practical effect is that the June 8, 2026 vacatur should now take hold, and USCIS should be prohibited from assessing the fee on covered H-1B petitions unless and until a higher court says otherwise.
Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, explained the dynamic clearly:
"USCIS remains barred from collecting the $100K H-1B fee under the Sept 2025 proclamation, which was due to expire on Sept 21, 2026. Since the new proclamation is issued as an extension, USCIS should be barred from collecting the $100K fee under the new proclamation as well."
A Companion Executive Order Adds Further Scrutiny
The fee extension was not the only H-1B action taken on September 18.
President Trump also ordered the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to consider whether a sponsoring employer has conducted or will conduct layoffs when adjudicating H-1B petitions, visa applications, applications to enter the United States, and H-1B-related labor condition applications.
Under the order, the Department of Labor will also begin, within 30 days, reviewing data from previously submitted labor condition applications to determine whether additional action against sponsoring employers may be warranted under federal law.
Consulting, staffing, outsourcing, and other third-party placement models may face particular scrutiny because those arrangements can raise displacement questions at client worksites.
However,
the executive order leaves significant implementation details to forthcoming agency guidance, which will determine how DOL, DHS, and the State Department incorporate layoff-related information into H-1B adjudications, and information on how the directive will apply in practice is not yet known.
The Bigger Picture: A $103,265 Fee Waiting in the Wings
Adding to the uncertainty,
the Department of Homeland Security last month also began pursuing a separate and more far-reaching proposal that would impose a roughly $103,000 fee on all H-1B petitions subject to the annual visa cap.
Unlike the presidential proclamation,
the new proposed rule is legally distinct from that executive order, as DHS is pursuing a fee structure through formal rulemaking, which relies on different legal authority.
The proposed fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual statutory cap, including petitions filed under both the regular cap (currently set at 65,000 visas) and the advanced-degree exemption (an additional 20,000 visas).
This is a proposal, not a final rule. Nothing is owed today, and no pending or approved petition is affected. The fee cannot apply to any petition until DHS publishes a final rule and that rule takes effect.
Even if finalized, legal challenges are widely anticipated given the unprecedented size of the proposed fee and its stated purpose of funding broader governmental immigration functions.
What This Means for Employers and H-1B Workers
For employers seeking to bring covered H-1B workers into the country, the immediate result is another year of uncertainty surrounding a policy the White House intends to maintain but whose ultimate legality remains before the federal appellate courts.
Here are the key practical takeaways:
- The $100,000 fee is not currently collectible.
- Existing visa holders are not affected by the fee.
- Employers should prepare for heightened scrutiny.
- The appellate process will be decisive.
Looking Ahead
The September 18 actions — a proclamation extending the fee and an executive order intensifying scrutiny — underscore the administration's determination to fundamentally reshape the H-1B program. Yet the legal landscape remains in flux.
The recent litigation demonstrates that even seemingly favorable court rulings may not produce long-term certainty, and appeals may prolong uncertainty for months or even years.
Employers and foreign nationals alike should work closely with immigration counsel to monitor developments in the First Circuit appeal, the proposed $103,265 rulemaking, and any implementing guidance issued under the new executive order. The stakes — for businesses, for workers, and for the future of the H-1B program — could not be higher.
ClinchLaw will continue to monitor this rapidly evolving situation and provide updates as new developments emerge.