The $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked Again: What Employers Should Do Right Now
If you sponsor H-1B workers, the $100,000 H-1B fee just changed status again. On September 30, 2026, a federal court in California blocked the policies agencies use to collect it, but the government has already appealed, so the honest answer is: blocked for now.
For HR teams and business owners, this whiplash is exhausting. Twelve days before the ruling, the White House extended the fee through September 2027 and ordered a new review of employer layoffs. You may have candidates waiting, offers out, and a hiring budget that swings by six figures depending on which court rules next.
Here is what the ruling does, what it leaves untouched, and what to do before your next filing.
Why the $100,000 H-1B Fee Is Blocked, For Now
In Global Nurse Force v. Trump, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction and vacated the agency policies that put the fee into practice: the USCIS, State Department and CBP guidance on who pays, when, and how. The court found the agencies likely skipped the notice-and-comment process the Administrative Procedure Act requires and ignored the employers and workers who relied on the old rules. This is an early-stage ruling, and the case is still ongoing.
This is the second court to block the fee. In June 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts set aside the same policies on a different ground: it found the fee exceeded the President's legal authority. In July, the First Circuit refused to pause that ruling while the appeal moves forward.
The order reaches the extension. It covers collection under both the September 2025 proclamation and the September 2026 extension that runs through September 21, 2027.
It protects more than the plaintiffs. Because the court vacated the policies themselves, the ruling is not limited to the organizations that sued.
The proclamations still stand. Judge Gilliam did not strike them down or decide whether the President had the power to issue them. In theory, agencies could try again through formal rulemaking, but the Massachusetts ruling, which found the fee exceeded presidential authority, would still stand in the way unless a higher court reverses it.
The appeal is live. The government filed a notice of appeal with the Ninth Circuit on October 9, 2026. Judge Gilliam denied the government's request to pause his ruling, but the government can still ask the Ninth Circuit for a stay. As of October 15, no court has paused the ruling.
A blocked fee is not a cancelled fee. Plan for both outcomes.
If an appeals court grants a stay, the fee could return with little warning.
The Layoff Review the Ruling Didn't Touch
On September 18, 2026, the same day it extended the fee, the White House signed a separate executive order on H-1B program integrity. It tells the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State to consider whether a sponsoring employer laid off, or plans to lay off, similarly situated U.S. workers when they review Labor Condition Applications (LCAs), petitions and visas.
We checked this before writing. The September 30 ruling addresses the fee policies only, and nothing reported from the order touches the layoff executive order. The layoff review remains in place.
It is not an automatic bar. The order does not require a denial after layoffs, and immigration law does not forbid hiring H-1B workers after job cuts.
Key terms are still undefined. No agency guidance yet says what counts as a covered layoff or a "similarly situated" worker.
Labor is already looking. The order directed DOL's Wage and Hour Division to begin reviewing previously filed LCA data within 30 days.
In practice, expect more questions about workforce history, often in the form of a Request for Evidence (RFE). For an overview of sponsorship options, see our employment-based visas page.
What Employers Should Do About the $100,000 H-1B Fee Right Now
The ruling buys time, not certainty. The employers who come through this calmly are the ones who prepare as if either outcome could happen.
✅ Confirm before you pay. Do not send the $100,000 payment, or ask a worker to cover it, without checking how agencies are handling it on your filing date. Regular H-1B filing fees still apply.
✅ Keep proof of any past payment. If you paid under the vacated policies, keep the receipt and payment confirmation. No refund process exists today, but your records matter if one opens.
✅ Map 12 months of separations. Line up every layoff and separation from the past year against the job title and worksite on each petition, so you can explain the difference before an officer asks.
✅ Budget for more than one scenario. A separate DHS proposal would add a fee of more than $103,000 on cap-subject petitions. It is only a proposal, and this ruling does not affect it.
✅ Watch three dates. The Ninth Circuit's answer on the stay, the First Circuit's ruling on the merits, and any new rulemaking on the fee.
You Are Not Alone in This
Behind every petition is a person waiting to start a job, and an employer trying to keep a promise. When the rules flip this often, feeling stuck is normal, and you do not have to read every court docket yourself.
How Goldstein Immigration Lawyers Can Help You
Our employment-based team follows these cases closely and turns them into a filing plan for your company.
✅ Filing-date review: we check the fee status and agency practice right before you file, so you do not pay what you do not owe or get caught off guard if the fee returns.
✅ Layoff-risk review: we compare your workforce history with each petition and prepare your explanation before an RFE arrives.
✅ LCA and petition alignment: we confirm wages, job titles and worksites match across every filing.
✅ Options for every candidate: we compare paths for workers already in the U.S. and those abroad, including other U.S. work visas, and explain the trade-offs of each.
Bring your list of pending and planned H-1B cases. You will leave knowing which to file now, which to hold, and what each might cost.
Schedule a Session
Don't wait on this one. Call us today, and we will review your H-1B pipeline against the latest court orders and give you a plan you can act on.
📞 Call us: (213) 262-2000
💬 WhatsApp: https://wa.me/17744265784
Frequently Asked Questions
Not under the blocked policies, as of October 15, 2026. Two federal court orders bar agencies from collecting it through their current policies. Because the government has appealed and could still seek a stay, confirm the status on the day you file.
Posted in: Blog, Breaking, Employment-Based Immigration