On September 30, a federal judge from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order vacating the federal agency policies that implement the $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions and barring the agencies from enforcing them. The order adds a second layer of protection to the June 2026 vacatur of the same policies, and it explicitly covers policies implementing both the 2025 proclamation and the renewal President Trump signed in September 2026.
Background
On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued Proclamation 10973, which restricted entry for H-1B specialty occupation workers unless their petition was accompanied by a $100,000 payment, subject to narrow national interest exceptions explained through further U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidance. On September 18, 2026, the president extended the requirement for another 12 months, through September 21, 2027, issuing Proclamation 11069 on the same statutory authority as the original.
The $100,000 fee has been the subject of ongoing litigation, and courts have split. A federal district court in Washington, D.C., upheld the fee in Chamber of Commerce v. DHS, and that case is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In June 2026, a federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the agency policies implementing the fee, and in July the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay that ruling while the government’s appeal proceeds. The 2026 proclamation did not address the litigation, though CUPA-HR noted at the time that the renewal should be subject to the existing court order.
Court Decision
The order vacates the agency policies and sends them back to the agencies. It also bars the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the State Department, and the other agency defendants from enforcing policies implementing either the 2025 proclamation or its 2026 extension until “notice-and-comment rulemaking under the APA and regulatory flexibility analyses under the [Regulatory Flexibility Act] have been conducted.”
While the proclamations are blocked, the DHS is reviewing comments submitted in response to a proposed rule that would implement a $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions. Because the proposed fee would apply only to cap-subject petitions, colleges and universities, which are exempt from the H-1B cap by statute, would not be subject to the fee if the DHS finalizes the rule as proposed.
CUPA-HR will continue to monitor for updates regarding the ongoing policy and legal actions related to the H-1B program.