President Donald Trump has extended an executive order imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B non-immigrant visas for another year, prolonging a policy that has become a major source of uncertainty for U.S. employers that rely on highly skilled foreign workers.
The White House said Friday that the extension keeps the fee increase in place after the original order, issued in September 2025, was due to expire this month.
The H-1B program allows U.S. companies to employ skilled foreign workers, particularly in fields such as technology and engineering. Before Trump’s increase, employers generally paid fees ranging from about $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the circumstances of the petition.
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Trump has argued for a much higher cost for the program as part of his broader immigration policy. His administration has sought to make the $100,000 charge permanent, but the policy has faced legal challenges from employers and business groups.
The extension comes as courts continue to consider whether the administration has the authority to impose the fee.
A Boston-based appeals court is reviewing a June ruling by a federal judge who found the higher fee illegal and blocked the government from collecting it. Another court is considering a separate challenge brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobbying group. That means the extension does not necessarily settle the fate of the fee. Its continuation remains tied to litigation that could determine whether the administration can impose such a substantial charge through executive action.
The policy has also created a divide between the administration’s effort to tighten immigration and the technology industry’s continued demand for specialized workers.
Business groups and technology companies have noted that H-1B visas allow employers to recruit highly skilled professionals when qualified U.S. workers are unavailable. The program is considered a lifeline to the technology industry, which has historically relied heavily on workers from India and China.
Critics of the program, meanwhile, have said that some companies use H-1B workers to fill positions at lower wages rather than hire American workers.
The $100,000 fee significantly changes the economics of hiring through the program. For companies making large numbers of H-1B applications, the additional cost can run into millions of dollars, potentially affecting decisions about where to recruit, where to establish engineering operations, and whether to expand in the United States.
The impact is expected to weigh heavily on technology companies, which have been among the largest users of the visa program while simultaneously expanding their international operations.
The order does not apply to foreign workers who are already in the United States on student visas, a group that represents a significant share of new H-1B recipients. It also does not apply to renewals of existing H-1B visas. That limits the immediate effect on some companies’ existing employees, but it leaves employers facing higher costs when bringing in new workers from abroad who do not qualify for the exemptions.
The uncertainty has already influenced corporate planning. Changes to the scrutiny and processing of H-1B applications have affected hiring and expansion decisions, with some major users of the program, including Alphabet, increasing operations in India.
The situation has resulted in a broader concern for the U.S. technology sector, bordering on whether tighter immigration rules will encourage companies to invest more heavily in domestic talent or accelerate the relocation of certain functions to countries where skilled workers can be hired without the same immigration barriers.
The issue is growing as the technology industry competes for workers in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cloud computing, and other specialized fields. Many of those businesses operate across borders and can move engineering, research, and other functions when the cost of maintaining operations in one market rises.
The H-1B program itself was established by Congress in 1990, meaning the current dispute is taking place against a long-standing system that has become deeply integrated into the U.S. technology labor market.
For companies, the extension preserves a high level of uncertainty rather than providing a final resolution. Employers must continue to account for the $100,000 fee while the courts determine whether the administration can legally enforce it.
Extending the order keeps pressure on companies that depend on foreign skilled labor while Trump’s administration pursues a broader immigration crackdown. For technology companies, however, the policy adds another cost and planning variable at a time when demand for specialized technical workers remains high.
The eventual outcome of the court challenges will therefore matter beyond the fee itself, with business leaders warning that it could determine how much discretion a U.S. president has to alter the economics of a major employment-based immigration program without new legislation from Congress.