United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released guidance that the recently increased $100,000 H-1B visa fee may not apply to H-1B visa holders who are “requesting an amendment, change of status, or extension of stay,” regardless of when the requests were submitted.

This means if an individual on an F-1 student visa applies for an H-1B visa, the new fee may not apply due to it being a “change of status.” Additionally, H-1B visa holders traveling in and out of the country are not subject to these fees.

However — according to the guidance — if USCIS finds an applicant ineligible for a change of status, amendment or extension of stay, their employer will be subject to the $100,000 application fee. The example included on the USCIS webpage is if an immigrant is “not in a valid nonimmigrant visa status” or if an immigrant were to leave the U.S. before their change of status request was accepted. 

Revealed in a presidential proclamation on Sept. 19, the new H-1B visa fee requires employers looking to sponsor H-1B visa holders filing after Sept. 21 of this year to pay $100,000 to the federal government prior to each application. The annual cap on new H-1B visas of 65,000 has already been reached for the 2026 fiscal year, according to the USCIS webpage. 

The H-1B category is a type of special visa that allows employers to competitively hire talent from noncitizens. The information technology, software engineering and private consulting industries use H-1B visas extensively to fill high-skill positions. According to the H-1B Employer Data Hub, USC was approved for 108 H-1B visas in fiscal year 2025. 

In a Sept. 20 advisory, the University urged faculty and staff with H-1B status to temporarily avoid travel amid the new fees. 

In light of the new H-1B policy, large employers such as Walmart have announced that they will no longer be applying for H-1B visas nor accepting new applicants.