US confirms international students exempt from new H-1B visa fee

Last month President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation, entitled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, as a reform to the H-1B work visa scheme, under which all H-1B petitions filed from 21st September 2025, must be accompanied by an additional US$100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.

The new rules and fees were implemented to prioritize US workers and prevent the system being used to “bring in cheap labor” but still allow companies to attract “the best of the best foreign temporary workers”.

President Trump introduced the new fee for H-1B petitions last month. Photo credit – Noam Galai, shutterstock.com

Although it appeared that international students and other non-immigrants in the USA would be exempt from the new rules, USCIS has now clarified that in an update on the $100,000 fee and confirmation of eligibility.

The Proclamation applies to petitions filed on or after 21st September 2025 on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the USA and do not have a valid H-1B visa.

USCIS has confirmed that the Proclamation does not apply to petitions for a non-immigrant in the USA applying for amendment, change of status, or extension of stay. This would include F-1 student visa holders.

The organization also confirmed the rules around leaving and re-entering the USA, which had been an area of confusion after the initial announcement.

“Further, an alien beneficiary of such petition will not be considered to be subject to the payment if he or she subsequently departs the United States and applies for a visa based on the approved petition and/or seeks to reenter the United States on a current H-1B visa.”

It is possible that the new US$100,000 fee for H-1B visa petitions may benefit international graduates in the USA, as for petitioning companies they would be a cheaper option than paying the $100,000 for a new entrant.

The H-1B visa is a popular route for international students seeking to remain in the USA after graduation or completion of post-study Optional Practical Training.

However, public consultation on plans to reform the H-1B visa system to favor higher-salaried employees are still underway.

In a recent survey of 1,039 current graduate students in the USA by NAFSA Association of International Educators and the Institute for Progress think tank, 53 per cent said they would never have enrolled on their program in the first place if access to the H-1B route was determined by wage levels.