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The United States Government has issued much-awaited clarification on the recently introduced US$100,000 supplemental fee for new H-1B visa petitions, providing relief to thousands of international students and employers. The move had initially provoked widespread confusion among tech professionals, hiring firms, and students on OPT or STEM-OPT pathways, but the updated guidance now clearly defines who is subject to the fee and who is exempt.
International students already present in the US on F-1 visas, who wish to change status or move into H-1B employment from within the country, are largely exempt.
According to the latest notification, the $100,000 H-1B visa fee will apply only to new petitions filed for beneficiaries outside the United States. This means the rule targets fresh applications initiated by employers seeking to bring skilled foreign workers into the US from abroad.
The fee will not apply to petitions that involve extensions, transfers, or changes of status within the country.
The clarification from US authorities also confirmed that the charge will be a one-time fee, payable per petition, and not an annual recurring charge. Furthermore, it will not be applied retrospectively; that is, existing H-1B holders or those who have already filed petitions before the rule’s effective date are exempt.
But what led to these turn of events? Here’s a timeline of events, explaining what the update means for students already in the US, those planning to go in the future, and largely about Indian nationals who form a major part of the H-1B workforce.
January 20, 2025
With the presidential transition completed, the new administration set out a stronger focus on immigration-control and national-security framed visa measures, laying the groundwork for tighter student and work visa policies ahead.
March 6, 2025
In early March, US authorities signalled that student-visa applicants would face expanded vetting, including deeper online and social-media checks, raising concern among international students about privacy and the reliability of the student-entry process.
May 27, 2025
At the end of May, the US temporarily halted scheduling of new student visa interviews as consular posts were instructed to expand vetting protocols—a move that disrupted the usual arrival flow for incoming students and heightened anxiety about access.
June 18, 2025
When student visa interviews resumed in mid-June, they did so under new rules: applicants could be required to make social-media accounts public, and consular officers were directed to review a much broader online footprint. This expanded scrutiny made the student-entry process more complex and less predictable.
August 28, 2025
On August 28, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to end the “duration of status” model for F-1 and J-1 non-immigrants, replacing it with fixed periods of stay. This signalled that student-status timelines could become more rigid, with implications for planning and long-term stay.
September 19, 2025
The Donald Trump administration issued a presidential proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers”, which introduced a new $100,000 fee for certain H-1B work visas. While primarily aimed at skilled-worker entries, the policy had immediate implications for international-student pathways that transition into work visas.
September 21, 2025
On this date, the new H-1B fee rule took effect. The official guidance clarified that any new H-1B petitions filed after this date (especially for beneficiaries outside the US) must accompany the $100,000 fee, though renewals and existing H-1B holders were not initially detailed.
October 1, 2025
Effective from this date, the visa-interview waiver programme was significantly narrowed: many international students and exchange visitors could no longer skip in-person interviews, making the entry process longer and potentially more uncertain for new student arrivals.
October 21, 2025
The policy landscape became much clearer for students: the US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued guidance that the $100,000 H-1B fee is one-time, not retrospective, and does not apply to students already in the US on F-1 visas seeking to change their status to H-1B from within the country, provided they remain in the US rather than apply from abroad.
