- The court rejected a request to pause proceedings on October 30, 2026.
- The public comment period on the proposed deference rule ends November 13.
- In fiscal 2024, 71% of nearly 399,000 approved H-1B petitions went to India-born beneficiaries.
US voters cast ballots on November 3, 2026, while a court order blocked enforcement of the $100,000 fee tied to some H-1B entries. The H-1B Visa restriction has been extended through September 2027, but the extension did not lift the court order.
The election will determine control of the House and Senate for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s administration. Congressional control could shape immigration legislation. A change alone is not expected to produce immediate visa-rule changes.
Indian American voters are weighing immigration alongside other political concerns. But the available poll does not show that the entry payment itself changed their voting plans.
The voter evidence points to broader immigration concerns
A poll commissioned by Indian American Impact found that one-quarter of Indian Americans who voted for Trump in 2024 planned to vote Democratic in the midterms. That finding measures intention, not the reason for each voter’s choice.
Chintan Patel, the group’s executive director, said some voters were “having buyers remorse.” H-1B restrictions and anti-Indian rhetoric have featured in accounts of voters reconsidering their support. Vice-President JD Vance’s call to eliminate H-1B visas has also fueled concern in the community.
Vasant Bhatt, a 21-year-old University of Houston student and former intern for Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s re-election campaign, said he would support Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race. Bhatt described his reaction to hostility this way:
“disgusted by the xenophobia, racial resentment, and increasingly brazen attacks on my identity”
His explanation focused on identity and hostility, not the payment. Indian-born H-1B beneficiaries and Indian American voters are not interchangeable groups.
The payment targets some workers entering from abroad
A presidential proclamation issued September 18, 2026, extended the restriction through September 2027, with limited exceptions. It covers certain H-1B workers outside the United States who need admission to put an approved petition into effect, including workers using consular processing or seeking entry at a port.
On September 30, 2026, the Northern District of California vacated and remanded agency policies implementing the proclamation and barred enforcement until required rulemaking procedures and analyses take place. The litigation continues. On October 30, a federal judge denied the government’s request to pause proceedings while its appeal moves forward. That ruling did not pause or lift the order blocking enforcement.
The extension and the court order remain separate. USCIS indicated it would comply with the order and intended to collect the payment if the order were lifted. The proclamation’s extension did not itself make collection possible. During the first eight months the fee was in effect, initial H-1B petitions for consular processing from cap-exempt employers dropped 91% from the prior-year period.
Layoff reviews and proposed rules add to employer uncertainty
Executive Order 14431 directs agencies to consider whether an employer engaged in layoffs within the previous year, or plans future layoffs, that negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers when reviewing immigration applications. It does not categorically bar sponsorship after layoffs. The order also directs the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to start reviewing previously filed labor condition applications within 30 days.
On October 8, 2026, the Labor Department announced at a White House press conference that it would stop accepting and processing green-card labor certification applications involving eight employers. Those PERM suspensions affect a potential path to long-term sponsorship, not current H-1B status or work authorization.
The Department of Homeland Security is considering ending H-1B spouses’ eligibility for work authorization. A separate proposed rule would remove general deference to some prior eligibility approvals. The existing deference rule remains in force until a final rule takes effect; the comment period ends November 13.
USCIS approved nearly 399,000 H-1B petitions in fiscal 2024, with 71% for Indian-born beneficiaries. About 258,000 approvals were for continuing employment, including about 203,000, or 79%, for Indian-born workers. Those figures describe beneficiaries, not voters.
Congress can shape policy, but employers still need current instructions
The election could affect which immigration measures Congress considers. A Republican-controlled Congress could seek a legal basis for the payment, while congressional control would not by itself change the court order. The president also retains veto power over legislation.
Employers and workers should check the current court orders and agency fee instructions for the specific worker and petition before filing or arranging travel. The entry restriction applies to a defined group of workers abroad, and a case’s processing route can affect what steps come next.
