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Sunday, September 20, 2026

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Visas · Sunday, September 20, 2026

White House tightens H-1B rules and extends $100,000 entry fee

The File desk · Sep 20, 2026, 10:15 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed (White House presidential actions, Sept. 18, 2026)

President Trump signed two H-1B actions on Friday. An executive order tells the State, Labor, and Homeland Security departments to coordinate with Commerce, Education, and the Small Business Administration when they handle H-1B petitions, labor paperwork, and visas, and to weigh whether the sponsoring employer laid off similar U.S. workers in the past year or plans to. A separate proclamation extends the September 2025 restriction on entry of certain H-1B workers for another 12 months. Under that rule, most H-1B specialty workers outside the United States need a $100,000 payment with the petition, with limited national-interest exceptions. The new window starts at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 21, 2026, and runs through Sept. 21, 2027, unless extended again. The proclamation says the prior fee has been paid on more than 700 petitions and that large information-technology staffing firms cut combined H-1B registrations from 24,946 to 2,055 — a 92 percent drop.

President Trump signed two H-1B actions on Friday.

tells the State, Labor, and Homeland Security departments to work with Commerce, Education, and the Small Business Administration when they handle H-1B petitions, labor paperwork, and visas.

The order also tells those agencies to weigh whether the sponsoring employer laid off similar U.S. workers in the past year, or plans to.

extends the September 2025 H-1B entry restriction for another 12 months.

Under that rule, most H-1B specialty workers outside the United States need a $100,000 payment with the petition, with limited national-interest exceptions.

The new window starts at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 21, 2026, and runs through Sept. 21, 2027, unless extended again.

The proclamation says the prior fee has been paid on more than 700 petitions since Sept. 21, 2025.

It also says large information-technology staffing firms cut combined H-1B registrations from 24,946 to 2,055 — a 92 percent drop.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    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/

  2. Source 2

    RESTRICTION ON ENTRY OF CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS

    The White House · September 18, 2026

    It is therefore in the interests of the United States to extend the 2025 Proclamation for an additional 12 months, until 12:00 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2027. … the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)… is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000…

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/

  3. Source 3

    Presidential Actions listing

    The White House · checked 2026-09-20

    Enhancing Program Integrity… H-1B… September 18, 2026; … September 18, 2026.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/