What does a $100,000 H-1B visa fee mean for American businesses?

By Jesse Beatson on September 22, 2025

Donald Trump’s recent Proclamation raises the fee for foreign nationals seeking entry into the U.S. on an H-1B to $100,000.

[T]he entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA … is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.

This restriction lasts at least 12 months, with only narrow “national interest” exceptions.

According to guidance published by USCIS, the $100,000 fee “only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed” as of 12:01 am on 9/21/2025, and “does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior
to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or
are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas.”

Still, if I’m an existing H-1B worker who leaves and later needs to re-enter the United States, I’m not feeling entirely comfortable. The “or supplemented” language in Trump’s Proclamation could easily be interpreted to mean that the $100,000 fee applies retroactively — not just to new applicants, but also to workers with valid H-1B visas seeking re-entry, or even simply trying to remain in the U.S. In other words, companies could suddenly face a $100,000 bill just to retain an employee they already lawfully employ.

The scale of the damage this fee will cause is hard to overstate.

👉 The U.S. needs to fill 3.5 million STEM jobs, but 2 million may go unfilled because we don’t have enough qualified workers.

👉 Manufacturing is projected to need 3.8 million workers over the next decade, and half those jobs could remain vacant without skilled talent.

👉 The semiconductor industry alone expects 115,000 new jobs by 2030, with 67,000 going unfilled.

👉 Healthcare, one of our fastest-growing sectors, is already in crisis, with physician shortages, rural access gaps, and a need for foreign-born specialists. This fee will only make it worse.

H-1B workers are not displacing Americans — they are filling gaps we cannot fill on our own.

So what happens when we erect a six-figure barrier?

1.) Startups and smaller firms can’t afford to sponsor global talent and thus will not even try.

2.) The talent gap will widen, especially in STEM and healthcare.

3.) Global competitors like Canada, the UK, and Europe—already aggressively recruiting—will benefit from the brainpower we turns away.

4.) Companies will offshore, automate, or scale back growth—all of which hurts American competitiveness.

This is not not “protecting American workers” and does not “make America great.” In fact, this policy does the opposite. It starves U.S. businesses of the very talent needed to innovate and grow.

At the very moment we most need skilled workers, we’re building the tallest, most expensive wall imaginable to keep out the global talent pool. And the cruelest irony? This wall isn’t just shutting out new talent; it forces companies to pay $100,000 just to let their own existing H-1B employees walk back through the door.

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