In a late-night federal update circulated on September 25, the White House confirmed that President Donald Trump has re-imposed a $100,000 fee on every H-1B petition— including cap-exempt filings by universities, research institutions and nonprofits—through a new proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.” The proclamation revives a fee first introduced in 2025 but later vacated by the courts; it takes effect 60 days from signing (November 18, 2026) and will apply to initial, transfer and extension petitions. The same update highlights an executive order issued on September 18—“Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program”—that directs the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security to jointly screen petitions for recent or planned U.S.-worker layoffs, wage depression and outsourcing patterns. Agencies must share wage and labor-market data and report back within 30 days on enforcement actions. The order also delegates the President’s INA §215(a) authority, allowing the agencies to publish rules that could limit visa issuance to employers engaged in layoffs or paying below-median wages. For employers, the immediate concern is budgeting: a mid-six-figure fee per petition will make it prohibitively expensive to sponsor H-1B talent unless costs are passed to clients or absorbed through corporate cuts. Universities warn that the blanket fee will hurt post-doctoral research and physician residency programs that rely on cap-exempt H-1Bs. Companies already selected in the FY 2027 cap lottery must file petitions by March 31, 2027; many are reassessing whether to proceed. Compliance teams should prepare for more extensive RFE (Request for Evidence) questions about layoffs and site-placement practices, and for potential public-access file audits by the Wage & Hour Division. Global mobility managers may pivot to alternative categories such as O-1, TN or L-1—none of which are covered by the proclamation—for urgent assignments. Stakeholders expect legal challenges on both statutory authority and excessive-fee grounds, but until a stay is granted, employers should treat the fee and stricter scrutiny as imminent. Longer term, the administration’s twin actions signal an aggressive shift from lottery reform to demand-side restriction, aiming to deter perceived outsourcing abuse and to steer firms toward recruiting domestic talent. Multinationals must incorporate the new cost calculus into 2027 workforce-planning cycles and reassess whether H-1B remains viable for specialized roles in the United States.
