Trump extends $100,000 H-1B fee for another year: What it means for Indian professionals

US President Donald Trump has extended the measure imposing a $100,000 payment on H-1B visa petitions for another year, keeping the controversial immigration restriction in place till September 21, 2027, as legal challenges continue in US courts.

The White House said Trump had extended the executive order behind the fee, which was first issued in September 2025 and was due to expire this month. The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire skilled foreign workers, including professionals in the technology sector, for jobs in the country for several years.

The extension is particularly significant for Indian professionals, who account for the largest share of approved H-1B beneficiaries by country of birth. USCIS data for FY2024 shows that 71% of approved H-1B petitions were for beneficiaries born in India, compared with about 12% for China. For Indian workers outside the US whose H-1B opportunities require them to enter the country, the continued $100,000 payment could therefore have significant consequences for employers and visa applicants.

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The White House said the original September 2025 proclamation was intended to address what the administration described as abuses of the H-1B programme, particularly involving IT staffing and outsourcing companies.

According to the proclamation, some companies had used H-1B workers for lower-paid positions and, in some cases, later outsourced jobs overseas. The administration said this had contributed to wage suppression and made it more difficult for some US workers and recent STEM graduates to find employment.

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The administration said the $100,000 payment has been made for more than 700 petitions since the restriction came into effect on September 21, 2025.

The latest proclamation also refers to changes in the H-1B selection process. A Department of Homeland Security rule introduced a weighted selection system that gives priority to higher-skilled and higher-paid applicants. The system was used for the FY 2027 H-1B cap season.

The administration said the combination of the $100,000 payment and the weighted selection system has already affected H-1B filing patterns.

The proclamation says the largest IT staffing and outsourcing companies cut their combined H-1B registrations from 24,946 to 2,055, a 92% decline.

It also cites a nearly 97% fall in consular-processing requests between the FY 2025 and FY 2027 cap seasons.

The White House said the proportion of FY 2027 registrants with at least a US master's degree rose from 45.1% in FY 2026 to 66.1% in FY 2027.

Registrations corresponding to the two highest wage levels accounted for about 46.3% of selections, while the lowest wage level accounted for 17.8%. The administration attributed these changes to the combined impact of the $100,000 payment and the weighted selection system.