H-1B $100,000 Fee Is Still Blocked: Two Courts Have Stopped It — and USCIS Is Not Collecting It

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H-1B $100,000 fee: the payment is still blocked, and USCIS is not collecting it. As of November 10, 2026, two federal courts have set aside the policies that put the fee into practice, and the government is appealing both rulings. The proclamation behind the fee is still on the books — and now runs to September 21, 2027 — but no employer has to pay the $100,000 right now.

That is the short answer. The longer answer matters, because the fee is not dead. It is blocked but alive on appeal, and USCIS has said it still plans to collect the payment if a court order is lifted. Anyone filing an H-1B petition today needs to know which of those two facts applies to their case.

What the $100,000 fee was

The fee came from a presidential proclamation, Proclamation 10973, signed on September 19, 2025 and effective September 21, 2025. It required a one-time $100,000 payment with certain new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States — specifically cases where approval required consular notification.

It never applied to most people already working in the US. Under USCIS guidance dated October 20, 2025, the payment did not apply to a timely filed change of status, such as F-1 to H-1B, or to extensions, amendments and change-of-employer petitions where the worker stayed in the country. That guidance is now among the documents a court has vacated, but the practical point stands: the fee was aimed at new petitions for workers abroad, not at people already here.

The regular H-1B filing fees still apply. The base I-129 filing fee is $780, and premium processing and the other standard charges are unchanged. Only the $100,000 proclamation payment is blocked.

How two courts stopped it

The first blow came on June 8, 2026. In State of California v. Mullin, Judge Leo Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts vacated the guidance that set up the payment, ruling that it worked as a tax the immigration law does not authorize the President to impose. The order covered the USCIS memo, the H-1B FAQ, the fee-schedule entry and the payment website. Twenty states had brought the case.

The government asked the First Circuit to pause that ruling while it appealed. On July 24, 2026, the appeals court refused, and it denied reconsideration on September 21. The appeal itself is still pending — the states’ answering brief was due November 4, 2026, and no argument date has been set.

The second blow came on September 30, 2026. In Global Nurse Force v. Trump, Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California vacated the agency policies implementing the payment under both the original proclamation and its extension, and barred USCIS, Customs and Border Protection and the State Department from enforcing them until the agencies complete notice-and-comment rulemaking and a required small-business impact analysis. His reasoning was different from the Massachusetts court’s: the agencies had skipped the rulemaking steps the Administrative Procedure Act requires. The court also denied the government’s motion to dismiss, so the case continues.

The government appealed to the Ninth Circuit on October 9, 2026. Its opening brief was due November 6, and the plaintiffs’ answering brief is due December 4. On October 30, the district judge denied the government’s request to put the district-court case on hold while the appeal runs, and a hearing on the government’s stay request is set for January 14, 2027.

The law is genuinely split

A third case points the other way. In December 2025, a federal court in Washington, D.C. upheld the fee in Chamber of Commerce v. DHS. That decision was argued in the D.C. Circuit on March 9, 2026, and no decision has come yet.

So the $100,000 fee is now before three appeals courts at once: the First Circuit in California v. Mullin, the Ninth Circuit in Global Nurse Force, and the D.C. Circuit in Chamber of Commerce. Two district courts blocked it, one upheld it, and none of the three appeals has been decided. That is why nobody can honestly call the fee dead — or call it in force.

The November 3 midterm results do not change this picture by themselves. A projected change in control of Congress does not lift a court order or repeal a proclamation, and no bill to settle the fee has been passed.

What USCIS says right now

USCIS updated its Form I-129 page on October 30, 2026. It says a court “vacated agency guidance implementing the $100,000 payment requirement,” and adds: “If this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment.”

In practice, USCIS is approving H-1B petitions filed without the payment, including cases where premium-processing windows had already passed while the fee’s status was uncertain. Employers filing now should keep one warning in mind: if an appeals court lifts an order, DHS says it intends to collect — and petitions filed today could be charged then. That risk is real, but it is a future risk, not a bill due today.

One thing that looks like collection, but is not: the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055, still prints a $100,000 line. That is a leftover entry, not evidence that anyone is paying it.

The separate $103,265 fee is only a proposal

Do not confuse the blocked $100,000 payment with a second, separate charge. On August 25, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule that would add a $103,265 fee to H-1B cap-subject petitions, using its fee-setting authority rather than the proclamation. The comment period closed on September 24, 2026, and DHS has not issued a final rule. It is a proposal, not a fee anyone owes.

The proposal is broader than the proclamation payment in one important way: it would reach cap-subject petitions for people already lawfully in the country, including change-of-status cases — the group the proclamation never covered. That is why it drew a detailed objection from a coalition of state attorneys general on September 24, calling it an effort to revive the same charge in a different form. Until a final rule appears, it changes nothing about what employers pay today.

Three November dates that do matter

The fee is not the only H-1B change moving this month. From November 9, USCIS accepts only the 09/09/26 edition of Form I-129 — older editions are no longer accepted. Today, November 10, is the last day to comment on a proposal to end the 60-day grace period for H-1B workers who lose their jobs. And comments are due November 13 on a proposal to end USCIS deference to its own prior approvals when deciding extensions.

None of those three is a done deal. The grace period and the deference change are proposals with open comment periods, and the new I-129 edition is a form change, not a fee change. But they show the direction of travel: the administration is still reshaping the H-1B program through rulemaking while the $100,000 fee sits in court.

What this means for you

If you are an employer with an H-1B petition in progress, you do not pay the $100,000 today, and USCIS is processing petitions without it. Keep the regular filing fees and the premium-processing rules in mind, and budget for the possibility that the payment returns if an appeals court rules for the government.

If you are a worker outside the US waiting on a new H-1B petition, the court orders are the reason your case can move forward without the payment. If you are already in the US on a change of status, extension or amendment, the fee was never aimed at your case.

And if you are weighing a move to Canada instead, be careful with what you read online. Canada’s own immigration rules have tightened sharply this year — study permits are capped and Express Entry draws were paused for rescoring — and there is no open H-1B-to-Canada route. Check the current rules on the official IRCC pages before making any plan.

The fee’s next real test comes in December, when the plaintiffs’ brief lands in the Ninth Circuit on December 4. Until then, the status is simple: blocked, not collected, and still in court.

FAQ

Is the H-1B $100,000 fee being collected right now?

No. As of November 10, 2026, two federal courts have vacated the agency policies that implemented the payment, and USCIS is not collecting it. USCIS is approving H-1B petitions filed without the payment.

Which courts blocked the fee?

The District of Massachusetts on June 8, 2026 (State of California v. Mullin), and the Northern District of California on September 30, 2026 (Global Nurse Force v. Trump). The First Circuit refused to pause the Massachusetts ruling on July 24, 2026.

Is the fee dead?

No. The proclamation behind it was extended through September 21, 2027, the government is appealing in the First and Ninth Circuits, and a D.C. court upheld the fee in December 2025 — that decision is on appeal in the D.C. Circuit. USCIS says DHS still plans to collect if an order is lifted.

Does the $100,000 fee apply to H-1B extensions or change of status inside the US?

No. It applied only to certain new petitions for workers outside the United States. Change of status, extensions and amendments for workers already in the US were never in scope.

What is the $103,265 H-1B fee I keep hearing about?

A separate DHS proposal published August 25, 2026, that would add a $103,265 fee to cap-subject H-1B petitions. Comments closed September 24, 2026, and no final rule has been issued — it is a proposal only, not a fee anyone owes today.

Sources

General information only — this article is not legal advice. Immigration rules and court orders can change quickly; check USCIS and the court dockets, or speak to a licensed immigration attorney, before acting on it.

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