USD 100,000 fee to apply for new H-1B petitions after Sep 21: USCIS

new york/washington: all new h-1b visa petitions submitted after september 21, including those for the fy2026 lottery, will require payment of the usd 100,000 fee, as announced by president donald trump in a recent proclamation, the us government has said.the us citizenship and immigration services (uscis), in a 'h-1b faq' document released on sunday, said that the september 19 proclamation took an “important, initial, and incremental step” to reform the h-1b visa programme to curb abuses and protect american workers.the proclamation "requires a $100,000 payment to accompany any new h-1b visa petitions submitted after 12:01 am eastern daylight time on september 21, 2025," the faq said. this includes applications for the 2026 lottery and any other new h-1b filings beyond that date, it added.uscis had earlier said in a statement on saturday that the fee would apply only to new, prospective petitions that had not yet been filed, but had not specified the exact date and time when the rule would take effect. a white house official had told pti that the $100,000 fee will "first apply in the next upcoming lottery cycle.”the fee is a one-time charge on submission of a new h-1b petition. uscis further clarified that it does not apply to petitions filed before the 12:01 am deadline on sep 21, previously issued h-1b visas, renewal petitions, and h-1b holders re-entering the us.the proclamation also authorises the department of homeland security (dhs) and the department of state (dos) to coordinate implementation steps. planned reforms include a department of labour proposal to revise and raise prevailing wage levels and a dhs rulemaking to prioritise high-skilled, high-paid workers in the h-1b lottery system.the department of state has issued guidance to all consular posts consistent with uscis and us customs and border protection policies.a day after trump signed the proclamation, officials clarified that the usd 100,000 fee does not apply to current visa holders and is a one-time payment only for new petitions, bringing relief to thousands of professionals, including indians, who were concerned over its impact.commerce secretary howard lutnick, commenting on the fee, said: “renewals, first times, the company needs to decide. is that person valuable enough to have $100,000 a year payment to the government, or they should head home and they should go hire an american?”the initial registration period for the fy2027 h-1b cap is expected to begin around march next year.