President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on September 18, 2026, extending the $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B nonimmigrant petitions by another 12 months.
The extension continues Proclamation 10973, issued September 19, 2025, and takes effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2026. It is set to expire at 12:00 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2027. The restriction applies to H-1B workers who must seek admission from outside the United States, and the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant national interest exceptions for an individual, a company, or an entire industry.
Importantly, the September 18 proclamation extends a payment requirement that is not currently enforceable. A Massachusetts federal district court vacated the policies implementing the $100,000 H-1B fee on June 8, 2026, finding that they exceeded the president's authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit then denied the government's request to pause that ruling on July 24, 2026.
As of September 19, 2026, employers sponsoring H-1B workers abroad do not have to include the payment while that order stands. The First Circuit has not set a date to rule on the government's underlying appeal, which could restore the requirement.
About the Author
Content Lead
Haley Davidson is Manifest Law's Content Lead, covering all topics related to U.S. visas and Green Cards. She's passionate about making complex topics easy to understand, like immigration law.
Read bioReviewed By
Princ. Immigration Attorney
Nicole is the founding legal architect and an immigration attorney with extensive experience across extraordinary ability, employment-based, and investment visas. As the founding legal architect, Nicole helped shape the engine of Manifest Law to serve our clients as effectively and strategically as possible.
Read bioShare this article:
