In a major development especially for Indian tech professionals who constitute a fair chunk of H-1B visa holders and American sponsoring companies, US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh presidential proclamation extending the controversial $100K H-1B visa fee for another 12 months, stretching the policy through Sept 21, 2027.However, immigration attorneys emphasize that despite the White House’s aggressive push, the fee remains legally blocked by a federal court order.Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explained, “The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (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. If USCIS takes the position that the new proclamation is outside of the purview of the existing court order, plaintiffs in the ongoing litigation are likely to quickly challenge that view.”Greg Siskind, co-founder at Siskind Susser, an immigration law firm pointed out that the language is virtually identical in the new proclamation, but the new version states that the fee applies to people seeking admission from outside the US (via consulates or ports of entry)—turning previous agency guidance into official proclamation text.The preamble to this proclamation explicitly states that: “Finally, my Administration continues to explore other complementary efforts that would, among other things, reform the H-1B program and assist with cost-recovery for immigration program administration.”Siskind adds that this signals that the Trump administration may try to implement permanent high fees through the standard rule making process of notice-and-comment.Furthermore, sponsoring employers could also face a compounding financial squeeze from a separate proposed regulation targeting an additional $103K fee, which would not only apply to H-1Bs who were outside US and were selected in the lottery, but will also cover students from within the US who are transiting from a F-1 visa to an H-1B.Read also: US proposes $103,265 H-1B fee: Hiring set to become more costlyWexler adds, “In addition, last month, USCIS separately proposed a regulation that would impose a fee of more than $103K on all cap-subjectH-1B petitions. That fee would be separate from and in addition to the $100K H-1B proclamation fee, where applicable, if the proclamation fee were to be reinstated by further court order.”Thus, if the proclamation fee is ultimately revived by higher courts and the separate USCIS cap-subject fee rule goes into final effect, affected employers could theoretically face cumulative financial barriers totaling over $200K per petition (application) for sponsoring H-1B cap workers.
Core takeaways:
- The Extension: The White House has extended the Sept 19, 2025 proclamation imposing a $100K fee on certain H-1B petitions through Sept 21, 2027.
- The Legal Status: Because the original 2025 framework was vacated by a federal district court, the extended fee policy inherits the same legal block, meaning USCIS remains barred from collecting the $100K fee for now. As was reported by TOI the US federal appeals court refused to stay a lower (district) court’s order that had struck down the controversial $100k fee on H-1B visa applications for new workers hired from outside the US. The plaintiffs in this case were 20 US states.
- The Compounding Threat: In addition to the proclamation fee, USCIS has separately proposed a regulation that would impose a fee of more than $103K on all cap-subject H-1B petitions—creating a potential multi-layered financial hurdle for employers.
Key statistics and claims from the White House proclamation:
The newly released White House proclamation details several official metrics highlighting the administration’s policy impacts since the original Sept 2025 order:
- Over 700 petitions paid: The administration reports that the $100K fee payment has been submitted for more than 700 petitions (H-1B visa applications) since its implementation in Sept 2025.
- 92% plunge in H-1B registrations by large IT outsourcing firms: The White House credits the restrictions with a massive reduction in registrations from large IT staffing and outsourcing firms dropping from 24,946 down to just 2,055 filings, a 92% decrease.
- Consular requests collapse: Consular processing requests aimed at bringing overseas workers directly into the US fell by nearly 97% between the FY 2025 and FY 2027 cap seasons.
- Surge in beneficiaries holding a Master’s degree: There has been a shift in FY 2027 H-1B registration and selection data toward higher-skilled and higher-paid workers, with registrations for beneficiaries with at least a US. Master’s degree rising from 45.1% of total registrants for FY 2026 to 66.1% for FY 2027. Further job offers with wages corresponding to the two highest wage levels accounted for approximately 46.3% of H-1B registration selections while those corresponding with the lowest wage level accounted for only 17.8%.
The Indian workforce connection:
Indian nationals especially those in the tech sector represent the absolute backbone of the H-1B programme, making any major shifts in policy disproportionately impactful on the Indian diaspora, even as reliance on H-1B visas by Indian tech companies has significantly reduced.According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) only three Indian-based companies in FY 2025 were among the top 25 employers with approved H-1B petitions for initial employment. In FY 2025, the top seven Indian-based companies had only 4,573 H-1B petitions approved for initial employment, a 70% drop from FY 2015 and 37% fewer than in FY 2024.However, Indians continue to dominate the H-1B visa holders spectrum.
- Initial employment dominance: According to official USCIS data for the fiscal year ended Sept 30, 2025, India-born beneficiaries accounted for 50.3% (57,747 out of 114,806) of H-1B petitions approved for initial employment.
- Continuing employment strength: The concentration was drastically higher among renewals: India-born beneficiaries accounted for a massive 77.6% (226,359 out of 291,542) of H-1B petitions approved for continuing employment, anchoring senior engineering and tech operations across corporate America.
With the White House doubling down on its high-skilled immigration overhaul even as federal courts block its path, stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic are bracing for a prolonged legal showdown. For India’s massive tech diaspora and the corporate giants relying on their expertise, the coming months will test the limits of executive power over America’s borders.
