White House proclamation introduces USD100,000 H-1B visa fee: Key considerations

At a glance

• A proclamation signed by President Trump on September 19, 2025, aims to curb abuses in the H-1B program by imposing a USD100,000 payment requirement for new H-1B petitions.
• The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidance clarifies that this fee applies only to new petitions filed after September 21, 2025, and does not affect current visa holders.
• Employers must retain documentation of the payment and comply with new enforcement measures to avoid penalties.
• The proclamation also includes provisions for revising prevailing wage levels and prioritizing high-skilled, high-paid workers.
• The Department of Labor's (DOL) new 'Project Firewall' initiative will enforce compliance and protect American workers' right.

On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, requiring a USD100,000 payment to accompany or supplement new applications for H-1B petitions 'to curb abuses that displace U.S. workers and undermine national security.' The proclamation also calls for limits on visa issuance and changes to the prevailing wage levels for the H-1B program. The proclamation’s stated goal is to make sponsoring H-1B workers more expensive for employers.

On September 20, 2025, the USCIS issued new guidance intended to clarify the proclamation.

We summarize the H-1B program changes imposed by President Trump’s proclamation and the USCIS guidance below.

Key H-1B considerations for employers

• USD100,000 payment requirement: Effective September 21, 2025, employers sponsoring H-1B workers outside the United States must submit a USD100,000 payment with each petition. Petitions without such payment will not be processed.
• Prospective application: According to USCIS guidance, the USD100,000 fee requirement only applies prospectively to H-1B petitions that have not yet been filed. After issuance of the proclamation, USCIS clarified that the requirement 'does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas.'
• No impact on current visa holder travel: The USCIS guidance provides that 'the proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or from the United States.'
• One-time payment: The fee is per petition, not annual.
• National interest exception: The proclamation provides that the Secretary of Homeland Security can waive restrictions 'to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry' if such waiver is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to national interest and security.
• Compliance and enforcement: The proclamation requires employers to obtain and retain documentation showing that the payment has been made prior to filing an H-1B petition. It further directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to enforce compliance and to deny entry to the United States to any H-1B non-immigrant for whom the prospective employer has not made the required payment.
• Amendments to prevailing wage levels: The proclamation directs new rulemaking to revise the prevailing wage levels and to prioritize the admission as non-immigrants of high-skilled and high-paid aliens.
• Expiration: Entry restrictions will last for 12 months from the effective date of September 21, 2025 and may be extended.

Next steps

Even with the clarifications provided by USCIS, the proclamation will likely face legal challenges. Nevertheless, employers planning to apply for new H-1B petitions are encouraged to immediately assess the financial and workforce impact of these new requirements. Employers are also encouraged to anticipate further modifications to prevailing wage levels and petition prioritization, seek legal advice, and watch for additional USCIS guidance before H-1B employees travel outside of the United States.

In parallel, employers are further encouraged to monitor United States DOL announcements and guidance related to its newly announced 'Project Firewall,' an H-1B enforcement initiative that was also announced on September 19, 2025. The initiative is intended to 'safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers by ensuring employers prioritize qualified Americans when hiring workers and holding employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B visa process,' according to a DOL news release.

In support of this new initiative, the Secretary of Labor observed that, for the first time in its history, the DOL will conduct investigations of employers through Project Firewall to 'maximize H-1B program compliance.'

We will continue to monitor developments. In the meantime, for more information about the proclamation and its implications, please contact any of the authors or your DLA Piper relationship attorney.