Is the $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Still in Effect? 2026 Status Check

The $100,000 H-1B fee was vacated in federal court and remains blocked as of August 2026, but the case is still on appeal and could change again.

You saw a headline, or a coworker mentioned it, or a job posting still lists it as a cost of hiring you: the $100,000 H-1B fee. Here is the direct answer. No, it is not currently being collected. A federal court vacated the proclamation that created it on June 8, 2026, and a higher court refused to bring it back on July 24, 2026. The fee is blocked right now, but the fight over it is not over, and that distinction matters for how you plan.

What the courts have actually done

Two separate rulings got you to today's status, and neither one is the final word on the case.

If you want the fuller blow-by-blow of how the case moved through the courts, see our breakdown of the H-1B fee lawsuit timeline.

Why "vacated" is not the same as "gone for good"

A vacatur means a court threw out the rule as it currently stands. It does not mean the underlying policy is permanently dead. Three things could still happen:

1. The First Circuit could rule for the government on the merits, reinstating the fee going forward.
2. The First Circuit could affirm the vacatur, and the government could ask the Supreme Court to take the case, extending the uncertainty further.
3. The 12-month restriction could sunset on 2026-09-20 without a renewed proclamation, which would remove part of the underlying framework even while the fee question is still on appeal.

None of those outcomes is locked in as of today. That is exactly why a blanket statement like "the fee is over" is just as wrong as "the fee is active" — both overstate what a pending appeal actually tells you.

What this means if you're job hunting on OPT or STEM-OPT right now

If you're on OPT or STEM-OPT and weighing offers from employers who file new H-1B petitions, the fee is not currently a cost you or your employer need to budget for — but plan around the litigation calendar, not around a fixed assumption either way. Our detailed answer on whether the fee applies to OPT students walks through how the fee was scoped before it was vacated, which matters if a similar version resurfaces.

A few practical points worth holding onto while this is unresolved:

• Don't let an employer use the fee, live or dead, as a reason to change your offer terms. If a recruiter cites the $100,000 fee as a reason for a lower salary, a delayed start date, or added conditions, ask what current USCIS guidance they're relying on — the fee is not being collected right now.
• Cap-exempt employers were already treated differently before the vacatur. Universities, nonprofit research organizations, and certain government research entities generally sit outside the standard cap-subject rules. If you're weighing a research-affiliated offer, read the specific scenarios in our guide to how the fee interacted with cap-exempt research and hospital employers.
• If you're evaluating self-sponsorship, O-1, or NIW as an alternative path, the comparison changes depending on whether the $100,000 fee is active. Our breakdown of self-sponsorship, O-1, and NIW strategy relative to the fee is written for exactly this kind of moving target.

If you have a petition pending or are about to travel

If your employer already filed a new H-1B petition, or you're weighing travel while a petition is pending, the fee's blocked status is welcome news for the moment, but it is not a reason to skip your usual travel-risk homework. Consular processing carries its own separate rules that have not changed with this litigation, so treat the fee question and your travel-timing question as two different risk assessments. Our guide on traveling while a petition is pending during the fee litigation walks through what to check before you book anything.

The separate deadline coming on September 20, 2026

Keep the litigation and the sunset date in two different mental buckets. Proclamation 10973 didn't just create the $100,000 fee — it also imposed a 12-month restriction that is scheduled to expire on 2026-09-20 unless the administration issues something to extend it. That expiration is not contingent on how the First Circuit rules. It could happen even while the appeal is still pending, and the appeal could resolve well after that date passes. One event settling does not mean the other has too.

How to check the current status before you act

1. Check USCIS's official H-1B fee and policy guidance directly, rather than a news aggregator or a social media summary, since the agency updates its own materials when court rulings change enforcement.
2. Ask your employer's immigration counsel for the date of their last check. Firms handling H-1B filings track this litigation closely and can confirm the fee's status as of your actual filing timeline, not just today.
3. If you're an F-1 or OPT student, loop in your Designated School Official for anything that touches SEVIS or your work authorization — the fee litigation doesn't change your DSO's role, but your school may have its own guidance for students weighing offers right now.
4. Watch the September 20, 2026 sunset date as a second checkpoint independent of the appeal, since it could shift the underlying framework on its own schedule.
5. Treat any figure you read, including the ones in this article, as time-stamped, not permanent. Note the date you checked, and recheck before you rely on it for a real decision.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the fee is permanently gone. A vacatur while an appeal is pending is not a final ruling, and the government could still win on appeal.
• Assuming the fee is currently being charged because of something you read months ago. A large amount of content published between the original September 2025 proclamation and mid-2026 describes the fee as active. Much of it hasn't been updated since the June 8, 2026 vacatur.
• Treating an outdated careers-page or offer-letter reference as current policy. Employer-facing content lags legal developments, sometimes by months. If a posting cites the $100,000 fee as a live cost, that's a sign the posting is stale, not that the fee is back.
• Conflating the fee litigation with the 12-month restriction's sunset. They are related but legally distinct, and one can resolve without the other.
• Making an irreversible decision — turning down an offer, resigning early, restructuring a petition — based on a fee status that could change again before you actually file. Get the current answer close to your real filing date, not months in advance.

The bottom line

As of August 17, 2026, the $100,000 H-1B fee is not being collected. It was vacated by a federal district court on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit declined to reinstate it on July 24, 2026. The appeal is still open, the underlying 12-month restriction is set to sunset on September 20, 2026 unless extended, and none of this is guaranteed to stay the same by the time you file. That's not an unsatisfying answer — it's the accurate one, and it's exactly why a decision this consequential belongs in front of a licensed immigration attorney, or your DSO for anything F-1 or OPT related, before you act on it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the $100,000 H-1B fee currently in effect? No. A federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the proclamation that created the fee on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit refused to reinstate it on July 24, 2026. As of August 17, 2026 the payment is not being collected, though the government's appeal is still pending. Confirm the live status with USCIS or an immigration attorney before making a decision that depends on it.

What actually happened in court with the $100,000 H-1B fee? A federal district court in Massachusetts ruled the proclamation exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and separation-of-powers principles, then vacated it on June 8, 2026. The government asked the First Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the fee while the appeal proceeds, and the appeals court denied that request on July 24, 2026. The underlying appeal on the merits has not been decided.

Could the $100,000 fee come back? Yes, it is possible. The First Circuit's appeal is still pending, and a future ruling could restore the fee, uphold the vacatur, or send the case back for further proceedings. Because the outcome is unresolved, treat any claim about the fee's status, including this one, as something to reconfirm close to your filing date rather than a permanent answer.

Does the fee apply to H-1B transfers, extensions, or renewals? The proclamation was written to target new H-1B petitions for workers being brought in from outside the United States, not routine transfers or extensions for people already working in H-1B status. Since the fee is currently vacated and not being collected regardless of petition type, this distinction is temporarily moot, but it will matter again if the fee is reinstated. Ask your employer's immigration counsel how a reinstated version would apply to your specific petition type.

How can I check the current status myself? Check the USCIS website's H-1B fee and policy updates, the DHS newsroom, or your employer's immigration counsel, since court rulings on this case can change the status again with little notice. Do not rely on older blog posts, social media threads, or your own memory of the September 2025 proclamation. If a filing decision or an offer depends on the fee's status, get written confirmation from a licensed immigration attorney before you act.

Trying to plan a job search or an offer decision around H-1B rules that keep moving? F1Jobs can help you think through the timeline — though for anything that touches your specific filing or status, you'll still want a licensed immigration attorney or your DSO in the loop.