White House Clarifies that New $100,000 H-1B Fee Will only Apply to New H-1B Petitions, and will not take Effect Until Next Year’s Lottery Cycle (FY2027)

Yesterday, September 19, 2025, the Trump Administration signed a Presidential Proclamation imposing a new fee of $100,000 on H-1B petitions.  Due to the ambiguous wording of the Proclamation, as well as statements made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during the signing ceremony, it was widely believed that the fee would take effect tomorrow, Sunday, September 21, 2025 and would apply to all H-1B workers seeking to enter or reenter the US as of that date.  As a result, several thousands of H-1B workers who were outside the US sought to return to the US before the Proclamation’s effective date. The panic that ensued was widely reported in the press.

White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt stated today through the semi-official ‘Rapid Response’ X account, that the new fee will in fact not apply to existing H-1B holders, and will not go into effect until next year’s H-1B lottery cycle.  The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) subsequently issued a brief memorandum this afternoon which appears to confirm the statements made by the Press Secretary. 

Based on the White House’s clarification, and today’s USCIS memorandum, it now appears that persons who are presently outside of the US with approved H-1B petitions, including H-1B cap petitions with an October 1, 2025 start date, will be allowed to enter or reenter the US in H-1B status, assuming they have a valid H-1B visa stamp in their passport (if required) and are otherwise eligible. This is the case even if they seek to enter after the effective date of the proclamation. 

We will provide more information as it becomes available. 

This alert supersedes the previous alerts published yesterday…