The $100,000 H-1B fee, one year on: where it stands for Indians

What happened

In September 2025, the White House issued a proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, imposing a one-time $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions. Per US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the charge applies to petitions filed after 12:01am Eastern on 21 September 2025, including the 2026 H-1B lottery.

The scope matters, and it is widely misunderstood. According to USCIS, the fee is a one-time charge on new petitions only. It is not required from people who already hold an H-1B, not charged on renewals or extensions, and not a recurring annual levy. A worker currently on an H-1B can renew and travel as before; the wall is built around new entrants.

Why Indians carry it

The H-1B is the single most important skilled-work bridge between India and the United States, and the numbers show it: more than 70% of H-1B recipients are Indian citizens, with China a distant second at a little over one in ten, on USCIS figures. For two decades the visa has carried Indian engineers, doctors and researchers into American technology and healthcare; a six-figure surcharge on each new hire lands on that pipeline first.

The practical effect is less an outright ban than a filter. A $100,000 cheque is affordable to the largest technology firms and a serious obstacle to the mid-tier employers, startups and universities that also sponsor Indian talent — so the fee quietly reshapes who can bring a worker over, tilting the field towards the biggest players.

The reaction

India's response was pointed. The Ministry of External Affairs said the measure was likely to have "humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families" — an unusually direct comment on another country's visa policy, and a measure of how squarely the fee falls on Indian households. Industry groups warned of damage to American competitiveness, given how much of US technology is built by H-1B workers.

Where it stands now

The proclamation was challenged in court almost at once, and the litigation is ongoing. In a 24 July 2026 order, the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied a government motion in the case, and the Department of Homeland Security indicated it would comply with the court's order while weighing its next steps. For now, though, the fee remains in effect: an Indian professional weighing a move should assume a new H-1B petition still carries it.

What it means for an Indian professional

If you already hold an H-1B, little changes — you can renew and re-enter as before, and the visa-stamping and appointment backlogs remain the more immediate hurdle. If you are hoping to start on an H-1B, the calculus is harder: the petition is usually the employer's cost, but the sum is large enough that many employers are rethinking whether to sponsor at all, or steering roles to offices in Canada, the UK or India instead.

That last shift is the real consequence. Coming on top of the green-card wall and the four-year rule on student visas, the $100,000 fee is one more reason the old, near-automatic assumption — that ambitious Indian talent heads to America — is no longer safe. A year on, the door has not closed. But it now costs a great deal more to walk through, and a growing number are choosing other doors.