Trump’s H-1B visa changes center on two moves: a September 2025 presidential proclamation that requires a $100,000 payment for any new H-1B petition filed on behalf of a worker outside the United States, and a final rule taking effect February 27, 2026, that scraps the random H-1B lottery in favor of a weighted selection system that favors higher-paid positions.1The White House. Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DHS Changes Process for Awarding H-1B Work Visas to Better Protect American Workers Both build on first-term policies that raised denial rates and tightened employer scrutiny.
The $100,000 Fee for New H-1B Petitions
President Trump signed the proclamation on September 19, 2025, and the restriction took effect two days later on September 21. It requires the $100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility for any new H-1B petition filed for a worker currently outside the United States, and it is set to last 12 months unless extended.1The White House. Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers USCIS updated its Form I-129 page to reflect that petitions filed on or after that date must include the additional payment.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker
The proclamation directs both DHS and the State Department to deny entry to any H-1B worker whose prospective employer has not made the payment. The Secretary of Homeland Security can grant exceptions for individual workers, entire companies, or whole industries when hiring foreign workers is deemed in the national interest and not a threat to U.S. security or welfare.
The $100,000 sits on top of the regular filing costs: the base I-129 petition fee, the fraud prevention fee, the ACWIA education and training fee, and the Asylum Program Fee. The H-1B electronic registration fee alone runs $215 per beneficiary for the FY 2027 cap season.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Process The stated goal is to make foreign labor expensive enough that employers look domestically first.
One thing to keep straight: the fee is tied to workers abroad. It targets new petitions filed for beneficiaries outside the country who would need consular processing to enter. Workers already in the U.S. on H-1B status, and petitions to extend or amend their status, are not what the proclamation addresses.
The New Wage-Based Lottery
Because demand for H-1B visas routinely exceeds the 85,000 annual cap, USCIS has run a random lottery to decide which registered petitions move forward. A final rule published in December 2025 ends that random draw. Starting February 27, 2026, with the FY 2027 registration season, USCIS will use a weighted selection process.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DHS Changes Process for Awarding H-1B Work Visas to Better Protect American Workers
The weights come from the Department of Labor’s four prevailing wage levels, which track roughly with experience. Level 1 covers entry-level positions, Level 2 qualified workers, Level 3 experienced professionals, and Level 4 fully expert roles. Under the new system, each registration is entered into the lottery a number of times matching its wage level: one entry for Level 1, two for Level 2, three for Level 3, and four for Level 4.
The effect is significant. Based on data published with the rule, a Level 4 position’s likelihood of selection roughly quadruples compared with a Level 1 position, though workers at every wage level still have a chance of being picked.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations Every wage level remains eligible; earlier proposals to exclude lower wage levels outright are not what the final rule does. But the math heavily favors employers offering top-tier compensation, and companies that relied on H-1B to fill entry-level technical roles face a much narrower path.
Tighter Specialty Occupation Standards
Federal regulations define a specialty occupation as one requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field, in areas such as engineering, medicine, accounting, and computer science.6eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status The statute similarly requires both specialized knowledge and a degree at entry.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
During the first Trump term, USCIS began reading these requirements far more strictly. Adjudicators demanded evidence that a bachelor’s degree in a specific field was the normal industry standard for the position, not just a preference. Entry-level roles drew particular skepticism. If a job could plausibly be filled by someone with a general business degree, officers challenged whether it truly qualified.
The tool was the Request for Evidence, a formal demand for documentation that pauses a petition until the employer responds. Companies had to produce internal hiring histories, detailed daily duty descriptions, organizational charts, and sometimes industry salary surveys to prove the degree requirement was standard rather than arbitrary. Denial rates for new H-1B petitions climbed from 6% in fiscal year 2015 to 24% in fiscal year 2018, with some quarters reaching 32%. The regulatory push behind this shift, Executive Order 13788 (Buy American and Hire American), was signed April 18, 2017, and directed agencies to steer H-1B visas toward the most-skilled or highest-paid workers.8govinfo. Executive Order 13788 – Buy American and Hire American9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Buy American and Hire American – Putting American Workers First The mindset behind those higher denial rates has not gone away, and IT staffing and consulting firms that place workers at client sites remain the most exposed.
Site Visits and Employer Penalties
USCIS expanded its Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program to conduct unannounced inspections of H-1B employers. Officers interview workers and supervisors to confirm the location, workspace, hours, salary, and actual duties match the petition.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program If the worker isn’t at the worksite listed on Form I-129, or is performing substantially different work, the petition can be revoked.
Companies that place H-1B workers at third-party client sites face the heaviest scrutiny, since the distance between sponsor and day-to-day supervisor creates more room for discrepancies. Officers want to confirm the employer keeps meaningful control over the worker’s assignments and conditions.
Penalties bite. Under the Department of Labor’s civil money penalty schedule, a willful failure to comply with H-1B wage or working condition requirements, a willful misrepresentation of a material fact on a labor condition application, or discrimination against an employee can bring fines up to $9,624 per violation.11U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments If the violation also displaced a U.S. worker, the maximum jumps to $67,367. Willful violators can also be debarred from the H-1B program entirely.
Employers must maintain a public access file for each labor condition application, holding the prevailing wage determination, the actual wage paid, and the working conditions offered, available for inspection within one business day.12U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62F – What Records Must an H-1B Employer Make Available to the Public Sloppy recordkeeping is one of the easiest ways to trigger enforcement, because the violation is provable on paper.
H-4 Spouse Work Permits
Since 2015, certain spouses of H-1B workers who hold H-4 dependent visas have been eligible for employment authorization. Two situations qualify: the H-1B worker is the primary beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition (Form I-140), or the H-1B worker has been granted status under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act.13Federal Register. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses In both, the H-1B worker is already well along in the green card process.
The first Trump administration moved to eliminate H-4 work permits. That effort stalled in court. In 2024, the D.C. Circuit affirmed in Save Jobs USA v. DHS that DHS has statutory authority to set conditions of admission, including employment rules for dependents. The current eligibility criteria remain intact, and the H-4 spouse applies using Form I-765.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
Survival of the program is not permanent protection. A new administration can begin a rulemaking to rescind or narrow the eligibility criteria at any time, following the notice-and-comment process required by the Administrative Procedure Act. Families relying on dual income should treat this as an open question.
What Hasn’t Changed
The structural pieces of the H-1B program remain in place. Congress still caps the program at 65,000 visas per fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 reserved for beneficiaries holding a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Workers employed by universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research entities are exempt from the cap.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
A worker can stay up to six years total, typically granted as an initial three-year period with a three-year extension.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants Extensions beyond six years are possible if the employer has started the green card process, either by filing a labor certification with the Department of Labor at least 365 days earlier or by holding an approved immigrant petition while waiting for a visa number.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FAQs for Individuals in H-1B Nonimmigrant Status Time outside the U.S. doesn’t count against the clock, and a full continuous year abroad resets it.
Portability also stands. A worker can begin employment with a new H-1B sponsor as soon as that employer files a petition, without waiting for USCIS to approve it, provided the filing happens before the current authorized stay expires.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations – Section 7.5 That flexibility matters more than ever now that new petitions from abroad carry a six-figure price tag: workers already inside the U.S. on H-1B status are, in practical terms, considerably more valuable to employers than candidates who would have to be brought in from overseas.