Trump Administration H-1B Policy Changes: The Complete 2025-2026 Guide
Between late 2025 and early 2026, the H-1B program underwent its most sweeping set of changes in decades. From a six-figure entry fee to a complete overhaul of how the lottery itself works, employers and workers have had to track a rapid sequence of proclamations, rules, and enforcement shifts. This guide consolidates the major changes into one factual reference.
The $100,000 entry fee proclamation
On September 19, 2025, the president signed a proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, effective September 21, 2025, which restricts entry for H-1B nonimmigrants unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment or a discretionary national interest exemption from DHS. The fee applies to new petitions for beneficiaries currently outside the United States without a valid H-1B visa, or to petitions requesting consular processing, port-of-entry notification, or preflight inspection. It explicitly does not apply to extensions, amendments, or changes of status filed for people already inside the United States, and it does not affect current visa holders' ability to travel. The restriction is set to expire on September 21, 2026 unless extended, and it directly shaped employer hiring strategy toward domestic change-of-status candidates over new overseas hires.
The wage-weighted lottery replaces random selection
On December 29, 2025, DHS finalized a rule replacing the traditional random H-1B cap lottery with a wage-level-weighted selection system, effective February 27, 2026, just ahead of the FY2027 registration cycle. Under the new system, registrations tied to higher Department of Labor prevailing wage levels, Level 3 and Level 4 in particular, receive statistically better odds of selection than entry-level Level 1 or Level 2 wage offers. The rule keeps the existing 65,000 regular cap and 20,000 advanced-degree exemption cap intact and preserves the two-step selection process for advanced-degree beneficiaries, but fundamentally changes who tends to win the lottery within those pools, favoring higher-paid, typically more senior, roles over entry-level hires including many recent international graduates.
Registration and filing fee increases, and the beneficiary-centric rule
The per-beneficiary H-1B registration fee rose sharply, from a nominal $10 to $215, part of a broader push to reduce speculative or duplicate registrations. Combined with the beneficiary-centric registration system, which counts each unique individual only once regardless of how many employers register them, these changes contributed to a dramatic drop in total registrations, from roughly 780,000 in FY2024 to approximately 211,600 for FY2027, a nearly 40 percent single-cycle decline. Standard I-129 petition filing fees also increased, and total filing costs for a single H-1B case, including registration, base filing fees, and potential proclamation fees, now range from roughly $2,500 to well over $110,000 depending on whether the $100,000 fee applies.
SEVIS terminations, F-1 scrutiny, and enforcement priorities
In spring 2025, before the H-1B-specific changes, the administration's immigration enforcement apparatus also moved aggressively against F-1 international students, terminating an unusually large number of SEVIS records with little individualized notice. At least 290 international students or recent graduates had their records terminated, spawning roughly 65 separate lawsuits, and judges granted temporary restraining orders in more than 35 of those cases, generally ordering the government to revert affected students' SEVIS status back to active. The episode heightened scrutiny of F-1 status generally, including expanded social media vetting during visa interviews, and fed directly into H-1B policy since many SEVIS-terminated students were also OPT-to-H-1B cap-gap candidates. Broader enforcement priorities under the administration have emphasized stricter site visits, tighter specialty occupation scrutiny, and continued attention to outsourcing and staffing-firm H-1B use, layered on top of the fee and lottery changes described above.
Frequently asked questions
Is the $100,000 H-1B fee permanent?
As written, the proclamation restricting entry and imposing the fee is set to expire 12 months after its September 21, 2025 effective date, meaning September 21, 2026, unless the administration acts to extend it. Employers should watch for renewal announcements as that date approaches.
Does the wage-weighted lottery replace the H-1B cap itself?
No. The statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 for the advanced degree exemption remains unchanged. Only the method of selecting among registrations within those caps has changed, from a pure random lottery to one weighted by wage level.
Are all these H-1B changes connected to each other?
Yes, largely. The September 2025 proclamation directed the Department of Labor to revise prevailing wage levels and set the stage for the wage-weighted lottery rule finalized in December 2025, while separately the beneficiary-centric rule and higher registration fees were aimed at reducing speculative filings, together reshaping both entry costs and selection odds.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration law is complex and situation-specific. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney before making decisions about your immigration status.