President Donald Trump has extended for another year the $100,000 payment requirement tied to the entry of certain Cap-subject and cap-exempt (H-1B)The H-1B category has an annual limit of 65,000 new visas or statuses per fiscal year, plus 20,000 more for people with a U.S. master's degree or higher. Petitions counted toward that limit are cap-subject. Petitions from higher education institutions, their related or affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations are cap-exempt.See it in the glossary workers. The new proclamation takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 21, 2026, and continues the restriction until 12:00 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2027, unless it is extended again.
The action does not impose a blanket ban on the H-1B program. Its text focuses on certain H-1B workers who are outside the United States and must seek admission based on a covered petition. Employers may avoid the restriction where the required $100,000 payment has been made, or where the Department of Homeland Security grants a national-interest exception.
What the proclamation does
Under the September 18, 2026 proclamation, entry as an H-1B specialty occupation worker remains restricted unless the worker’s petition is accompanied or supplemented by a $100,000 payment, subject to the stated exceptions.
The proclamation directs the Department of Homeland Security to restrict decisions on petitions that lack the payment when the H-1B worker is currently outside the United States. It also directs the Department of State to verify the payment during the visa process and instructs the agencies to deny entry where the prospective employer has not made the required payment.
The extension applies to people who enter or attempt to enter the United States after the new effective time and who must seek admission to put the petition approval into effect. The proclamation expressly mentions consular notification, admission at a port of entry, pre-flight inspection and preclearance.
Who may be affected
The most directly affected cases are employer-sponsored H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States who need an H-1B visa or admission to begin the covered employment. Before filing such a petition, the employer must obtain and retain documentation showing that the payment has been made.
The text does not say that every person already in H-1B status inside the United States must pay $100,000. It also does not announce a general $100,000 charge on all H-1B extensions or all changes of employer. The operative language centers on workers outside the country and on entry to the United States. Case-specific agency guidance remains important, particularly where travel, Consular processingApplying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, as an alternative to adjustment of status inside the United States.See it in the glossary or a later request for admission is involved.
National-interest exceptions remain available
The restriction does not apply where the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that the employment is in the national interest and does not threaten the security or welfare of the United States. The exception may be granted for an individual worker, all workers employed by a particular company or all workers in an industry.
The proclamation leaves that determination to DHS discretion and does not create an automatic exemption for any named employer or occupation.
Why the White House extended the restriction
The administration said the 2025 proclamation and the new wage-weighted H-1B selection process reduced registrations filed by major IT outsourcing firms and shifted selections toward workers with higher wages and qualifications. According to the proclamation, the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms reduced their combined registrations from 24,946 to 2,055, while consular-processing requests fell by nearly 97 percent between the fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2027 cap seasons.
Those figures and the administration’s conclusions are statements made in the proclamation. They explain the policy rationale for the extension but should not be read as independent findings by TR Immigration.
A companion executive order adds scrutiny of layoffs
On the same day, the President issued a separate executive order on H-1B program integrity. It directs the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security to consider whether a sponsoring employer engaged in layoffs during the previous year, or plans layoffs that negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers, when reviewing H-1B-related applications, petitions, visas and entry.
The order also requires expanded coordination with the Departments of Commerce and Education and the Small Business Administration. Within 30 days, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division must begin reviewing previously submitted Labor Condition Application (LCA)A Department of Labor form, ETA-9035, that an employer files before petitioning for an H-1B, H-1B1 or E-3 worker. In it the employer attests to standards on wages, working conditions, labor disputes and notice to workers. A certified LCA is then used to support the petition filed with USCIS.See it in the glossary data to determine whether enforcement action may be warranted.
What employers and workers should do now
- Confirm whether the BeneficiaryThe person on whose behalf a petition is filed, such as the relative or worker who would receive the immigration benefit.See it in the glossary is outside the United States and whether consular processing or admission will be needed.
- Do not assume every H-1B filing is covered. The proclamation’s operative provisions are narrower than a universal H-1B fee.
- Review travel plans carefully if a worker may need to seek H-1B admission after September 21, 2026.
- Preserve payment documentation where the proclamation applies.
- Monitor DHS and State Department guidance for implementation details and procedures for national-interest exceptions.
- Review recent or planned layoffs in light of the companion Executive orderA directive from the President to federal agencies and officials about how to run the executive branch and carry out the law. Executive orders are numbered and published in the Federal Register, and they generally bind the executive branch.See it in the glossary’s new scrutiny.
For background on the original policy and its implementation, see TR Immigration’s earlier analysis: Where the $100,000 H-1B proclamation fee actually stands. A broader overview of the visa category is available in The H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa.
Official sources
- White House proclamation: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, September 18, 2026
- White House executive order: Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program, September 18, 2026
- White House fact sheet on the H-1B actions, September 18, 2026
The practical effect may depend on the petition, the worker’s location and travel or admission history.