H-1B Executive Orders and Proclamations: What's Actually in Effect in 2026

The $100,000 H-1B fee is vacated in court, the lottery is now wage-weighted, and one proclamation sunsets September 20 unless renewed - here's what's actually enforced.

If you've spent any time on immigration Twitter or LinkedIn this year, you've probably seen three contradictory claims about H-1B policy in the same week - that the $100,000 fee is crushing new hires, that it was struck down and is gone for good, and somehow both at once depending on who's posting. All three can't be right, and if you're weighing a job offer, planning a lottery registration, or advising a candidate, "it's complicated" isn't a good enough answer.

Here's the actual state of play as of August 2026. The headline-grabbing $100,000 fee is vacated and not being collected, but the litigation isn't over. A separate wage-weighted lottery rule quietly became the more consequential change for most F-1 and OPT candidates heading into FY2027. And a couple of the other 2025-2026 shifts - on consular stamping and H-4 work authorization - didn't come from an executive order or proclamation at all, which is exactly why they keep getting mislabeled alongside the fee. This guide sorts out what's actually in force, what's expired, and what's genuinely still pending.

Where every major H-1B policy change stands right now

Notice that only two of these five rows are actually a presidential proclamation. The other three are agency rulemaking and consular policy, which move on entirely separate legal tracks and don't rise or fall with what happens to Proclamation 10973 in court. More on why that distinction matters below.

How we got here - the 2025-2026 timeline

1. Fall 2025 - Proclamation 10973 pairs a $100,000 supplemental fee on certain new H-1B petitions with a 12-month restriction window. Working back from its scheduled 2026-09-20 sunset, that window opened around September 2025.
2. 2025-10-01 - The State Department ends the H-1B interview waiver worldwide. Every H-1B stamping case, including a same-employer renewal, now requires an in-person consular interview.
3. 2025-10-30 - DHS ends the automatic 540-day extension for H-4 EAD renewals filed on or after this date.
4. 2025-12-29 - USCIS publishes the wage-weighted H-1B lottery final rule in the Federal Register.
5. 2026-02-27 - The wage-weighted lottery rule takes effect, replacing the flat random draw used in prior years.
6. 2026-03-04 to 2026-03-19 - The FY2027 H-1B registration window runs under the new weighted system for the first time.
7. 2026-03-31 - USCIS announces FY2027 selections.
8. 2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30 - The FY2027 petition filing window.
9. 2026-06-08 - A federal court in the District of Massachusetts vacates the $100,000 fee, finding it exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers principles.
10. 2026-07-24 - The First Circuit denies the government's motion to reinstate the fee while its appeal proceeds.
11. 2026-08-17 (as of this writing) - The fee remains uncollected, the appeal is unresolved, and Proclamation 10973's 12-month window is roughly a month from its scheduled sunset.

The $100,000 fee, unpacked - vacated, not gone

This is the fact most worth getting right, because it's also the most commonly misstated one on the open web right now: the $100,000 H-1B supplemental fee is not currently being collected. Two court decisions did that work. On 2026-06-08, a federal judge in the District of Massachusetts vacated the fee, ruling that it exceeded the executive's statutory authority and violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers limits on what a proclamation can accomplish without Congress. When the government asked the First Circuit to let it keep collecting the fee while it appealed that ruling, the court said no on 2026-07-24.

Put those two dates together and the present-tense answer is simple - as of 2026-08-17, no employer is required to pay this fee to file a new H-1B petition. But "vacated" is not the same as "permanently repealed." The underlying appeal has not been decided on the merits, only the request to keep the fee running during that appeal. If you already paid the fee before it was vacated, the guidance on refunds is still unsettled, so keep complete records of what you paid and when. For a deeper walk through how the case moved from filing to vacatur to the stay denial, see our timeline of the H-1B fee lawsuit.

The clock that actually matters right now

Separate from the litigation, Proclamation 10973 itself carries a built-in 12-month restriction period that is scheduled to sunset on 2026-09-20 unless the administration extends it. That date is close enough that anyone weighing consular processing against a change-of-status filing should treat it as a live variable, not background noise - our guide to choosing between consular processing and change of status under the fee proclamation walks through how that decision shifts depending on where things stand when you file.

The wage-weighted lottery is quietly the bigger deal for most candidates

While the fee fight has dominated headlines, the rule that actually changed outcomes for the largest number of F-1 and OPT candidates took effect on 2026-02-27: USCIS no longer runs the H-1B lottery as a flat random draw. Instead, each registrant is entered based on the Department of Labor's OEWS wage level tied to the offered role.

1. Level IV wage offers receive four lottery entries
2. Level III wage offers receive three entries
3. Level II wage offers receive two entries
4. Level I wage offers receive one entry

A Level I offer isn't disqualifying, but under this system it's proportionally worse odds than a Level III or IV offer at the same employer. Because the wage level is set on the Labor Condition Application before the registration window opens, it's a variable you can actually influence - by asking an employer to benchmark the role at a higher level - rather than something you discover after the fact. We cover the mechanics and the negotiating angle in more depth in our wage-weighted H-1B lottery guide for new grads, and if you're mapping out FY2027 specifically, our FY2027 H-1B registration and odds breakdown covers the registration window that ran 2026-03-04 through 2026-03-19 and the petition filing window that followed.

Not every 2025-2026 change came from the White House

Part of why the fee and the lottery rule get lumped together in casual conversation is that they both feel like sweeping federal action. But they sit on different legal tracks, and so do two other changes that reshaped H-1B and H-4 planning over the same stretch.

The H-1B interview waiver - what most people call the dropbox - wasn't a proclamation. It was a State Department consular policy decision, and it ended on 2025-10-01. Every H-1B visa stamping case now requires an in-person interview, including a renewal with the same employer in the same role, and applicants generally need to apply in their country of nationality or usual residence rather than wherever happened to be convenient. None of that turns on how the fee litigation resolves.

The H-4 EAD automatic extension change is a DHS policy decision, not a proclamation either, and it hit a different population entirely: dependent spouses. Renewals filed before 2025-10-30 still keep the automatic extension of up to 540 days, capped at the I-94 expiration date. Renewals filed on or after that date get no automatic extension at all - if USCIS hasn't approved the renewal by the time the current card expires, the spouse has to stop working until it is approved. Our guide to the eliminated H-4 EAD auto-extension covers the filing-timing strategy this now demands.

The practical upshot: a future extension, modification, or reversal of Proclamation 10973 would not automatically touch the interview waiver policy or the H-4 EAD rule, and vice versa. Each of these changes has its own legal source and its own path to being reversed, which is exactly why "did the executive order get overturned" is the wrong question to ask about most of them.

Common mistakes

• Treating "vacated" as "repealed." The fee isn't being collected, but the appeal hasn't been decided on the merits, so it isn't settled law yet.
• Backing out of an offer, or building a $100,000 line item into a budget, over a fee that isn't currently being charged. Confirm current status before either decision.
• Assuming a Level I wage offer disqualifies a registration. It doesn't - it just gets one lottery entry instead of up to four.
• Assuming a same-employer H-1B renewal still qualifies for the dropbox. It doesn't, as of 2025-10-01; budget time for an in-person interview.
• Filing an H-4 EAD renewal on the old 540-day auto-extension assumption. That protection is gone for filings on or after 2025-10-30.
• Treating any single article, including this one, as legal advice. Policy in this area has moved repeatedly and could move again before the 2026-09-20 sunset date. Route filing decisions to a licensed immigration attorney, and route anything touching your F-1, OPT, or SEVIS record to your DSO - they are not interchangeable, and getting the wrong one involved on a consequential filing can cost you time you don't have.

Frequently asked questions

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee currently in effect? No. A federal court in the District of Massachusetts vacated the fee on 2026-06-08, holding it exceeded executive authority and violated the APA and separation of powers. The First Circuit denied the government's request to reinstate it during appeal on 2026-07-24, so the fee is not being collected as of 2026-08-17. The appeal is still pending, so this could change - confirm the current status with your employer's immigration counsel before making a decision based on it.

What is Proclamation 10973 and when does it expire? Proclamation 10973 is the presidential proclamation behind the H-1B fee fight; it paired the now-vacated $100,000 supplemental fee with a 12-month restriction period. That restriction is due to sunset on 2026-09-20 unless the administration extends it, which would reopen the whole question of what's actually in force. Treat any date this close as provisional and check USCIS and White House releases directly rather than relying on secondhand summaries.

How does the wage-weighted H-1B lottery change my odds? Since 2026-02-27, USCIS enters each registrant into the H-1B lottery multiple times based on the OEWS wage level tied to the job offer - Level IV gets four entries, Level III gets three, Level II gets two, and Level I gets one. It replaced the flat random draw, so a higher wage-level offer now meaningfully improves selection odds. Wage level is set on the Labor Condition Application before the registration period opens, so it is worth raising with your employer early.

Can I still walk into any US consulate without an H-1B interview? No. The interview waiver, commonly called the H-1B dropbox, ended on 2025-10-01, and all H-1B stamping now requires an in-person interview, including a same-employer renewal in the same role. You generally need to apply in your country of nationality or usual residence, with only limited diplomatic exceptions. Build extra time into any travel plan around a stamping appointment.

Does my H-4 EAD still auto-extend while my renewal is pending? It depends on when you filed. Renewals filed before 2025-10-30 keep the automatic extension of up to 540 days, capped at your I-94 expiration date, but DHS eliminated that automatic extension for renewals filed on or after 2025-10-30. If you filed on or after that date and your card expires before USCIS approves the renewal, you must stop working until approval comes through, so filing as early as the rules allow is now the only real cushion.

Policy in this area is genuinely still moving, and the right call on timing a filing or a job change depends on facts specific to you. F1Jobs can help you make sense of where your own situation sits against the current rules.