Overview

• President Trump’s proclamation imposing a $100,000 charge on new H‑1B petitions is now in effect, and the White House clarified it is a one‑time fee that does not apply to current holders or near‑term renewals.
• Homeland Security’s draft rule would weight selection toward higher‑paid roles if requests exceed the 85,000 cap, including multiple entries for top wage tiers, and DHS projects higher aggregate H‑1B wages beginning in FY2026.
• USCIS will take public comments for 30 days, and the agency signaled the wage‑prioritized process could be ready for the 2026 registration cycle, with DHS estimating significant impacts on thousands of small employers.
• Tech companies scrambled operationally, with firms advising H‑1B staff to stay or return to the U.S., startups warning the cost is prohibitive, and executives and analysts noting likely shifts to hiring abroad such as expansion in India.
• India faces concentrated effects because roughly 71% of recent beneficiaries are Indian nationals, and legal pushback is building as immigration lawyers argue the fee exceeds executive authority and officials explore potential court challenges.