The eye-watering US $100,000 surcharge that has shadowed the H-1B programme for the past year is on ice again. In a decision issued 30 September and reported 3 October by immigration news outlet ProgVia, Judge Haywood Gilliam of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the agency memoranda that implemented President Trump’s 2025 proclamation requiring the payment. The ruling bars U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection and the State Department from collecting the fee until they complete formal notice-and-comment rule-making. Practically, no H-1B petition filed after the ruling must include the six-figure cheque, a major reprieve for technology and healthcare employers that depend on the category. The Massachusetts district court had already invalidated the policies in June; the California order makes nationwide relief even clearer and rejects the government’s bid to limit relief to the named plaintiffs. Importantly, the proclamation itself—and a separate DHS proposal to impose a similar US $103,265 regulatory fee—remain alive, meaning the cost could return in different form. For mobility managers the message is two-fold: (1) current filings proceed under normal statutory fees; (2) budgeting for future cap seasons should still contemplate a large additional outlay if the regulatory fee is finalised. HR teams should also note that the wage-weighted lottery rule, in effect since February 2026, is unchanged and will drive registration strategy for FY 2028. Employers with offers to candidates abroad can move forward without the surcharge for now but should build clauses into offer letters to address possible fee reinstatement before visa issuance. Likewise, F-1 OPT holders switching to H-1B—historically spared the proclamation fee—would be hit by the proposed DHS rule; counsel recommend preparing dual cost scenarios until a final regulation emerges.
Source: ProgVia
