On September 19, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment with every new H-1B visa petition filed on or after September 21, 2025 [1], including 2026 lottery petitions. If allowed, this measure would disrupt the U.S. economy and shut out countless employers and needed skilled professionals.
The proclamation rests on the claim that H-1B workers are “cheap foreign labor” who drive down wages. In reality, anyone familiar with the H-1B visa process [2] would know that every H-1B employee must be paid a Department of Labor–certified wage at or above the prevailing rate for U.S. workers in similar roles. The suggestion that these workers undercut the labor market is simply unfounded.
In fact, if a regulation like this passes, it would not likely generate jobs for U.S. workers, given these jobs are being filled with foreigners due to insufficient qualified American workers in certain fields. This will more likely result in an increase in hiring more remote foreign workers, reducing the income taxes these H-1B workers would have paid to the U.S. treasury and the positive effects of their local consumption and innovation for the U.S. economy.
Fortunately, changes to USCIS filing fees require a law to be passed by Congress or a regulation to be promulgated by the agency, USCIS, to be legal. For a regulation to be promulgated, it must be published in the Federal Register for a period long enough for public comment, the comments must be considered, and then a regulation can be issued.
An executive promulgation has never been recognized as a lawful procedure to adjust, or in this case, to create a new USCIS filing fee. Courts that reviewed similar attempts by the former Trump Administration, such as Immigrant Legal Resource Center et al v. Wolf et al, a U.S. District Court decision issued by Jeffery S. White for the Northern District of California. (See Docket No. 4:2020-CV-05883 (2020)), ruled that fees declared by methods, other than properly promulgated regulations or congressional mandate, are unlawful.
Lawsuits are already being prepared to challenge this unlawful expansion of Executive Authority, It is anticipated that these legal actions will succeed, unless the Supreme Court issues a decision to undermine the true rule of law established by our Constitution.
If you need help with any visas for your foreign employees or any other immigration issue, call to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced Boston Business Immigration Lawyers [3] at: 617-303-2600 or fill out an online consultation request [4].