Trump extends $100k H-1B visa fee to 2027: Will it stop Indian tech professionals?

Trump extends the $100,000 H-1B visa payment rule until September 2027. Find out who could be affected and what it means for Indian tech workers.

US President Donald Trump has extended the $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B petitions for another year, keeping the restriction in place until September 21, 2027. The move comes with a separate order telling federal agencies to examine whether companies seeking H-1B workers have recently laid off Americans or plan to cut US jobs.

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Trump extends $100,000 H-1B restriction until September 2027

The White House announced the 12-month extension on September 18, just days before the restriction was due to expire. The policy was first introduced in September 2025 and applies to certain H-1B workers outside the United States whose petitions are not accompanied by the $100,000 payment.

There are exceptions. The Homeland Security Secretary can exempt an individual, a company's workers or an industry if their employment is judged to be in the national interest and does not pose a threat to US security or welfare.

The extension does not mean that every H-1B worker must personally pay $100,000. The proclamation places the payment requirement on petitions covered by the entry restriction.

Will the $100,000 H-1B fee affect Indian workers?

The order does not contain a separate rule for Indians. Its impact depends on the type of H-1B petition and where the worker is based.

Indian professionals have a large presence in the H-1B programme, particularly in technology. Reuters reported that the extended restriction excludes current holders converting from student visas and people renewing existing H-1B visas.

The biggest pressure is likely to fall on employers seeking to bring new H-1B workers into the US from abroad. For companies hiring large numbers of foreign workers, a $100,000 payment for each covered petition could sharply raise recruitment costs.

Trump administration puts US layoffs under H-1B scrutiny

Trump also signed a separate executive order on September 18 that changes how federal agencies examine H-1B applications.

The order tells the Departments of State, Labour and Homeland Security to consider whether a sponsoring employer carried out layoffs during the previous year or plans future layoffs that could hurt similarly placed American workers.

This means a company seeking H-1B workers could face more scrutiny if it has recently cut US jobs.

The Department of Labour's Wage and Hour Division has also been ordered to begin reviewing data from previously filed Labour Condition Applications within 30 days to determine whether action against some sponsoring employers is warranted.

White House says IT outsourcing registrations fell 92%

The Trump administration says its H-1B changes have already altered hiring patterns.

According to the White House, combined H-1B registrations from the largest IT staffing and outsourcing companies fell from 24,946 to 2,055 after the 2025 measures, a fall of about 92%.

Requests for consular processing also fell by nearly 97% between the FY 2025 and FY 2027 cap seasons, according to the administration.

The White House also said registrations involving workers with at least a US master's degree increased from 45.1% of total registrations for FY 2026 to 66.1% for FY 2027.

Why is Trump tightening H-1B rules?

The administration argues that some employers have used the programme to hire foreign workers at lower wages while cutting American jobs.

In its new executive order, the White House said its analysis showed an estimated pay gap of $9,000 to $20,000 between H-1B workers and comparable US-born workers in sectors that rely heavily on the programme.

It also said technology companies requested H-1B visas for hundreds of thousands of workers while the sector recorded between 800,000 and 1.3 million layoffs from 2022 through 2026.

Those figures are the administration's justification for the new measures. Business groups and other critics of the restrictions have argued that H-1B workers help US companies fill specialised jobs where qualified workers can be difficult to find.

H-1B lottery has already changed

The annual H-1B selection process is also different. The Department of Homeland Security replaced the previous random selection system with a weighted process that gives greater preference to higher-paid and higher-skilled positions.

The system was used for the FY 2027 H-1B cap season.

What is the new $103,265 H-1B fee?

There is another H-1B fee proposal moving separately from Trump's $100,000 entry restriction.

The Department of Homeland Security proposed a $103,265 additional fee in August for every cap-subject H-1B petition, including petitions covered by the US advanced-degree exemption.

The proposal covers the annual cap of up to 85,000 H-1B visas, made up of the regular 65,000 cap and an additional 20,000 places for qualifying workers with advanced degrees from US universities.

DHS estimates that the proposed charge could raise about $8.8 billion a year if applied to 85,000 petitions.

The $103,265 charge is not yet in force. It is a proposed rule and is separate from the $100,000 payment under Trump's proclamation.

What Indian tech workers and students should watch now

For Indian professionals, the next steps depend heavily on whether they are already in the United States, seeking an extension or change of status, or being recruited from abroad.

Workers outside the US seeking new H-1B employment may face the most direct effect from the $100,000 restriction if the government is allowed to enforce it.

Students and recent graduates should also watch the separate $103,265 proposal. If DHS finalises it in its present form, the additional charge would apply to cap-subject H-1B petitions, including those under the advanced-degree exemption.

For now, the two large H-1B charges are at different stages. Trump has extended the $100,000 restriction through September 2027, but its enforcement remains caught in litigation. The $103,265 charge is still a proposal and has not become a final rule.

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