The $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked Again — but the Door for This Year Already Closed

If you have been following the $100,000 H-1B fee, the situation changed on 24 July 2026. A federal appeals court refused to put the fee back in place, which means it is not being collected right now.

Before you celebrate: the fee is only half the story, and it was never the half that stopped most people. The FY2027 H-1B cap closed in mid-July, and there will be no second lottery. For anyone hoping to start H-1B work in the United States, both facts matter — and they point in opposite directions.

The short answer

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect? No. On 24 July 2026 the First Circuit refused to pause a district court ruling that vacated the fee, so USCIS cannot collect it at present. This is interim relief, not a final decision — the government’s appeal continues, and a higher court could restore the fee.

What the court actually decided

The fee came from Presidential Proclamation 10973, issued on 19 September 2025. It required a one-time $100,000 payment on new H-1B petitions filed on or after 21 September 2025 where the beneficiary would be approved through consular processing abroad.

Two separate court cases went in opposite directions.

In November 2025, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. upheld the fee. That case was brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Universities, who argued the President had no authority to impose it. The court disagreed, finding the proclamation was lawfully issued under the President’s statutory power to restrict the entry of non-citizens.

Then in December 2025, twenty states led by California and Massachusetts filed their own challenge in Massachusetts, arguing under the Administrative Procedure Act that the agencies implementing the fee had exceeded their authority. On 8 June 2026 that court sided with the states and vacated the policy in its entirety. Its reasoning was narrower than it first sounds: the court held that a $100,000 charge functions as a tax rather than a routine regulatory fee, and that the power to restrict entry does not extend to the power to impose a tax. It separately found that the agencies had not followed proper federal rulemaking procedure.

The government appealed. The district court declined to stay its own ruling but granted a short administrative pause so the appeals court could weigh in, which is why USCIS kept collecting the fee through June and July.

On 24 July 2026 a three-judge panel of the First Circuit denied the government’s emergency motion for a stay. Applying the standard four-factor test for stays pending appeal, the panel found the government had not made a strong showing that it was likely to win. It noted the principle that Congress must speak clearly when it hands the executive branch power to impose financial burdens — and that the immigration statutes relied on do not expressly authorise a payment of this size.

The practical effect: the June vacatur is in force nationwide, and USCIS should not be requiring the $100,000 payment on petitions the policy previously covered.

Why this is relief, not a resolution

Three things are worth understanding clearly, because a lot of commentary online is overstating this ruling.

It was a decision about timing, not merits. The First Circuit ruled only on whether the fee stays blocked while the appeal is heard. It has not issued a final ruling on the appeal itself.

There is now a split between courts. One federal court in Washington, D.C. upheld the fee; one in Massachusetts struck it down. Conflicts like that tend to travel upward, and several US immigration practices have said openly that this question may end up at the Supreme Court.

The fee could come back. It returns if a higher court grants a stay, if the government wins the appeal outright, or if Congress passes legislation authorising a payment of this kind. Anyone planning a US move over the next two years should treat the current position as provisional.

Did the fee ever apply to you?

This is the point that caused the most panic and the most misinformation, so it is worth being precise.

The payment requirement was tied to a specific scenario: new H-1B petitions for beneficiaries who were outside the United States and would need consular processing to get H-1B status. It was not a general fee on every H-1B petition.

USCIS made clear that it did not apply to a domestic change of status — for example, a student in the United States on F-1 status moving into H-1B from inside the country. Those petitions were in a different lane throughout.

So if you were an international graduate already in the US, the headline number that dominated the news for ten months was probably never your obstacle. If you were being sponsored from India, Pakistan, Nigeria or anywhere else outside the US on a new cap-subject petition, it was — and for the moment, it is not.

The bigger obstacle: the FY2027 cap is already full

While the fee litigation was running, the annual quota did what it always does.

USCIS announced in mid-July 2026 that it had received enough petitions to reach both the congressionally mandated 65,000 regular H-1B cap and the separate 20,000 advanced degree exemption known as the master’s cap. That is 85,000 slots for employment starting 1 October 2026, and they are gone.

Because the statutory cap has been met, USCIS confirmed it will not run a second selection round for FY2027. In some previous years, when too few selected registrants actually filed petitions, the agency ran supplementary lotteries that gave unselected people another chance. That is not happening this year, and it did not happen for FY2026 either.

If your registration was not selected in the March draw, the status in the online account moves from “Submitted” to “Not Selected,” and there is no further opportunity in this cycle. The next chance is the FY2028 registration period, expected to open around March 2027.

Cap-exempt petitions carry on normally throughout. USCIS continues to accept and process extensions of stay for current H-1B workers, amendments, change-of-employer petitions, and change-of-status petitions filed by cap-exempt petitioners.

The lottery itself changed this year — and that matters more than the fee

FY2027 was the first cycle run under a new selection method, and this is the structural change that will shape your odds next March.

DHS finalised a rule on 29 December 2025, effective 27 February 2026, replacing the flat random lottery with a weighted selection process. Under the old system every registration had identical odds regardless of the salary offered. Under the new one, registrations get additional entries based on where the offered wage falls in the Department of Labor’s four-level Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics prevailing wage system. Higher wage level, more entries, better odds.

The rule sits on top of the existing beneficiary-centric framework, so it is still one person, one set of odds — but those odds are no longer equal. DHS framed the change as prioritising higher-skilled, higher-paid roles and reducing the incentive to flood the system with registrations.

Two data points suggest the deterrent effect was real. Registrations for FY2027 came in at 211,600, down from 343,981 for FY2026 — a fall of roughly 38.5%. That is a substantial drop in competition, though 211,600 registrations chasing 85,000 slots is still heavily oversubscribed.

One honest caveat: USCIS has not released enough data to calculate the FY2027 selection rate, and it has not published a breakdown of selections by wage level. So nobody can yet tell you how much the weighting actually moved the needle. Anyone claiming a precise figure for how much a Level 3 or Level 4 wage improved your chances this year is guessing.

The cycle also introduced a revised Form I-129 requiring additional disclosures, and the electronic registration fee stands at $215 per beneficiary.

What to do between now and March 2027

There are roughly eight months before the next registration window. Used well, that is enough time to materially change your position.

Push the wage level, not just the salary. Under weighted selection, what counts is which OEWS wage level your offer corresponds to for that occupation in that geographic area — not the raw number. A conversation with a prospective employer about job title, duties and level can shift which wage tier applies. This is the single highest-leverage thing in your control.

Look seriously at cap-exempt employers. Higher education institutions, affiliated non-profit entities, non-profit research organisations and government research organisations can generally file H-1B petitions outside the annual cap, at any time of year, with no lottery. For researchers, clinicians and academics this is not a consolation prize — it is a better route, and it is chronically under-explored by applicants fixated on the March draw.

Map the non-H-1B categories that fit you. Depending on nationality, qualifications and employer, other US work categories may apply — including intra-company transfers, categories for individuals with extraordinary ability, and treaty-based categories available to nationals of specific countries. Each has genuinely different requirements, and none is a simple substitute. Get individual advice rather than assuming eligibility.

If you are studying in the US, protect your status runway. Practical training after graduation, and the cap-gap provisions that can bridge a pending H-1B petition, are what buy you multiple attempts at the lottery. Understanding your own timeline is more valuable than following the litigation.

Run a parallel country plan. This is the pragmatic point most US-focused coverage omits. If your goal is skilled work abroad rather than the United States specifically, other systems are open right now and do not depend on an annual draw.

Two warnings worth taking seriously

Nobody can sell you an H-1B. An H-1B petition is filed by a US employer, and registration for the cap is done by that employer through a USCIS online account. Any agent offering to place you in the lottery for a fee, guarantee selection, or sell you a petition is describing something that does not exist. Selection is a draw, now a weighted one, and it cannot be bought.

Verify the fee status before you act on it. This is fast-moving litigation with conflicting rulings in different courts. The position described here is accurate as of the First Circuit’s 24 July 2026 order, but it could change with a single filing. Check the USCIS newsroom and, if you have an employer or counsel involved, ask them directly before any petition is filed or any payment is made.

Where this leaves things

For applicants outside the United States, the immediate practical picture has improved: a six-figure charge that made many employers abandon overseas H-1B sponsorship altogether is currently unenforceable. That genuinely reopens conversations that were dead three months ago.

But the fee was one barrier among several, and the others are all still standing. The quota is 85,000 and has not moved in decades. The lottery now favours higher wages by design. Registrations remain roughly two and a half times the number of available slots even after a sharp drop. And the legal position on the fee itself could reverse before the next registration window opens.

The reasonable conclusion is not that the US route has reopened, and not that it has closed. It is that the FY2028 cycle in March 2027 is the next real decision point, that the wage level attached to your offer is now the variable that matters most, and that anyone treating a single court order as a settled outcome is likely to be surprised.

Key Takeaways

• On 24 July 2026 the First Circuit denied the government’s request to stay a ruling that vacated the $100,000 H-1B payment requirement, so USCIS cannot collect it at present.
• The block is interim. The appeal continues, one court has upheld the fee and another has struck it down, and the question may reach the Supreme Court.
• The fee only ever applied to new petitions for beneficiaries outside the US requiring consular processing — not to domestic change-of-status petitions.
• USCIS confirmed in mid-July 2026 that the FY2027 cap of 85,000 is full, and there will be no second lottery this cycle.
• Unselected registrations show as “Not Selected”; the next opportunity is the FY2028 registration, expected around March 2027.
• FY2027 was the first year of weighted selection, which gives extra lottery entries based on the DOL OEWS wage level of the offered role.
• Registrations fell to 211,600 from 343,981 the previous year, but USCIS has not released FY2027 selection-rate or wage-level data.
• Cap-exempt employers — universities, affiliated non-profits, non-profit and government research organisations — can generally file outside the cap year-round.

FAQ

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect? No. Following the First Circuit’s 24 July 2026 order declining to stay the district court ruling, the policy remains vacated and USCIS should not be collecting the payment. The government’s appeal is still pending, so this could change.

Did the $100,000 fee apply to everyone filing an H-1B? No. It applied to new petitions filed on or after 21 September 2025 for beneficiaries outside the United States who would be approved through consular processing. USCIS confirmed it did not apply to domestic change-of-status petitions, such as an F-1 student switching to H-1B from inside the US.

Will there be a second H-1B lottery for FY2027? No. USCIS announced in mid-July 2026 that it had received enough petitions to meet both the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 master’s cap, so no additional selection rounds will be held for FY2027.