H-1B Visa Row: Team Trump Specifies Who Will Be Exempted From $100,000 Fee

In what is seen as a big relief for existing US visa holders, including Indians, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has clarified that recent international college graduates who are sponsored for H-1B status while in the US won't be subject to a hefty $100,000 fee imposed on the programme by the Donald Trump administration last month.

The controversial presidential proclamation over the $100,000 H-1B visa fee, issued by Team Trump on September 19, 2025, has left employers and visa holders confused because previous guidance from US agencies failed to answer many questions.

What Team Trump Said

In guidance released on October 20, USCIS specified that the hefty fee would not apply to a “change of status"-- a case where a person changes from one category to another without leaving the country, like an F-1 student moving to H-1B status-- or seeking an extension of stay within America.

However, the agency specified that petitions filed for workers outside the US or for workers who must leave the US before a petition is adjudicated will be subject to the fee.

According to the agency, current H-1B visa holders also won't be stopped from leaving and entering the United States.

“The Proclamation applies to new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa,” the USCIS said.

“The Proclamation also applies if a petition filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, requests consular notification, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection for an alien in the United States.”

The agency also established an online portal to pay the $100,000 petition fee issued in the September 19 proclamation.

The Trump administration did not indicate that any roles would be approved for blanket waivers. Still, it said employers can submit a request for an exception if a worker's presence is in the national interest and no American is available to fill the role.

Relief To Indian Students In US

The Monday guideline is the first time the Trump administration has attempted to address the questions surrounding confusion over the H-1B visa fee since the proclamation.

It appears to cover college graduates on F-1 student status and employees on L-1 visas, including Indians, as it says those already in the US wouldn't be subject to the $100,000 charge.

An L1 visa is a non-immigrant US work visa that allows multinational companies to transfer employees from their foreign offices to their US offices. An F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for foreign students who wish to study full-time at an accredited institution in the United States.

Team Trump has said that the $100,000 H-1B visa fee won't apply to anyone changing their visa status. Therefore, people who are already on a US visa won't have to pay the fee.

The September proclamation was President Donald Trump's most disruptive measure so far, targeting the employment of foreign workers in the US. The administration said the fee would address abuse of the programme, heavily used by the tech sector. Still, separate legal challenges have warned that it would wreak havoc on a range of US industries otherwise unable to fill key labour needs.

Although the administration quickly clarified that only new H-1B petitions would be affected, significant questions remained unclear, including how student visa holders would be affected and whether any industries or occupations would be exempted from the fee.

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