On September 18, 2026, President Trump issued a proclamation extending the H-1B $100,000 fee that was due to expire today for an additional year through September 21, 2027. While this proclamation extends the $100K fee, H-1B employers should be aware that collection of the fee is currently unenforceable.

The original proclamation from September 2025 created the $100K fee requirement for any H-1B application requesting consular processing.

In June 2026, the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ruled that the $100K fee was unlawful and vacated the policy. On July 24, 2026 the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government’s request to stay the decision, and therefore collection of the $100K fee remains blocked while the full appeal plays out.

In light of these developments MU moved forward with filing H-1B cap exempt applications for healthcare occupations requesting consular processing without the $100K fee. In practice USCIS has not been approving these applications, letting the premium processing clock lapse without taking action, but also not requesting payment of the $100K fee.

MU continues to prepare and file H-1Bs for our healthcare clients requesting consular processing without the $100K fee. We will continue to monitor developments in both the ongoing $100K fee litigation and adjudication trends and provide updates as additional guidance becomes available.