Visas · Monday, September 21, 2026
H-1B $100,000 entry payment window opens today
The File desk · Sep 21, 2026, 10:15 AM UTC
Status
Confirmed (White House proclamation, Sept. 18, 2026; effective Sept. 21, 2026)
The White House proclamation that extends the September 2025 Legal instrument Extends the 2025 H-1B entry restriction for another year so most H-1B specialty workers outside the United States need a $100,000 payment with the petition, with limited national-interest exceptions, starting Sept. 21, 2026. White House: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers Legal instrument A presidential order that steers State, Labor, and Homeland Security to check H-1B filings more tightly with other agencies and to factor employer layoffs of similar U.S. workers into petition and visa decisions.Proclamation — Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers (Sept. 18, 2026)
Executive Order — Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program (Sept. 18, 2026)
The White House proclamation that extends the September 2025 Legal instrument Extends the 2025 H-1B entry restriction for another year so most H-1B specialty workers outside the United States need a $100,000 payment with the petition, with limited national-interest exceptions, starting Sept. 21, 2026. White House: Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant WorkersProclamation — Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers (Sept. 18, 2026)
For the next 12 months — through Sept. 21, 2027, unless extended again — entry of certain H-1B specialty-occupation workers from outside the United States is restricted unless the petition is accompanied or supplemented by a $100,000 payment.
The Homeland Security secretary can grant limited national-interest exceptions.
The proclamation says the prior fee has been paid on more than 700 petitions.
It also says large information-technology staffing firms cut combined H-1B registrations from 24,946 to 2,055 — a 92 percent drop.
A companion Sept. 18 order, Legal instrument A presidential order that steers State, Labor, and Homeland Security to check H-1B filings more tightly with other agencies and to factor employer layoffs of similar U.S. workers into petition and visa decisions.Executive Order — Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program (Sept. 18, 2026)
That order steers the State, Labor, and Homeland Security departments to check H-1B filings more tightly with other agencies and to factor employer layoffs of similar U.S. workers into petition and visa decisions.
What is still unknown or disputed
- Federal Register publication number; first concrete exception grants under the national-interest clause after today’s effective date.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
RESTRICTION ON ENTRY OF CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS
The White House · September 18, 2026
This restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2026.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/
Source 2
ENHANCING PROGRAM INTEGRITY AND INTERAGENCY COORDINATION IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE H-1B NONIMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM
The White House · September 18, 2026
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take into account… whether the employer sponsor directly or indirectly engaged in layoffs within the previous year…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/enhancing-program-integrity-and-integrity-and-interagency-coordination-in-the-administration-of-the-h-1b-nonimmigrant-visa-program/