92% plunge in H-1B filings by IT firms after Trump’s $100K fee

In a major development especially for Indian tech professionals who constitute a fair chunk of H-1B visa holders and American sponsoring companies, US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh presidential proclamation extending the controversial $100K H-1B visa fee for another 12 months, stretching the policy through Sept 21, 2027.However, immigration attorneys emphasize that despite the White House's aggressive push, the fee remains legally blocked by a federal court order.Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explained, “The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) remains barred from collecting the $100K H-1B fee under the Sept 2025 proclamation, which was due to expire on Sept 21, 2026. Since the new proclamation is issued as an extension, USCIS should be barred from collecting the $100K fee under the new proclamation as well.