What happened
On September 19, 2025, the President issued Proclamation 10973, “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.” USCIS explains that under it, new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025 “must be accompanied by an additional $100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.” The H-1B is the visa that lets U.S. employers hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations.” On September 18, 2026, the President extended that proclamation for 12 more months, until September 21, 2027.
On September 30, 2026, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, a case filed in October 2025 by employers, schools and others. The judge found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on their claims that the agencies’ policies carrying out the payment were arbitrary and capricious and were adopted without the notice-and-comment process the Administrative Procedure Act requires. The order vacates those agency policies and bars the agencies from enforcing them, under both the 2025 proclamation and its 2026 extension, “until notice-and-comment rulemaking under the APA and regulatory flexibility analyses under the RFA have been conducted.” The judge also denied the government’s request to pause the order while it appeals.
This is the second court to act against the payment. On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated the agency guidance in State of California v. Mullin, and on July 24, 2026 the First Circuit denied the government’s request to pause that order. USCIS says DHS “will comply with the court’s order while DHS considers next steps.” The California order notes that, after the Massachusetts ruling, “the $100,000 fee is no longer in effect.”
Who this is about
The payment applies to employers filing new H-1B petitions, and so to the workers those employers want to hire. USCIS’s own FAQ says the proclamation does not apply to H-1B visas issued before it took effect or to petitions filed before September 21, 2025, does not change the fees for H-1B renewals, and does not stop a current H-1B visa holder from traveling in and out of the United States.
The order is about H-1B petitions only. It does not address any other visa category, green card process or immigration benefit. It is also a preliminary ruling: the court set a case management conference for October 27, 2026, and wrote that “the United States Supreme Court is likely to eventually provide further clarity.”
What it does not mean
- It does not mean the courts agree. The order itself notes that a federal court in Washington, D.C. upheld the proclamation and the fee in Chamber of Commerce v. DHS, and that case is on appeal.
- It does not mean the payment is gone for good. USCIS says: “If this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment.”
- It does not cancel the proclamation. The order acts on the agencies’ policies that carry out the payment; the proclamation’s extension to September 21, 2027 was still on the White House site when this was written.
- It is not the same thing as DHS’s separate proposal. On August 25, 2026, DHS proposed a $103,265 fee for H-1B cap-subject petitions. That is a proposed rule, not a final one, and this order does not decide it.
What to do with this
The dates and quotes above come from the court’s order, USCIS, the White House and the Federal Register, all linked at the top of this page. How this affects a specific petition or a specific worker is a question for a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative, and the organizations below are a place to start. Advocasí helps prepare paperwork once a qualified advisor has said which path applies.
Advocasí is not a law firm. We explain what a policy says and help people prepare their own paperwork once a qualified advisor has told them which path applies.