Trump Admin Orders Enhanced Vetting for H-1B Visa Applicants

(UNITED STATES) The Trump administration has ordered sweeping new limits on the H‑1B visa program, issuing a presidential proclamation on September 19, 2025, that adds an unprecedented $100,000 payment requirement for many employers and temporarily restricts decisions on petitions for workers abroad. The changes, which took effect within days, apply to foreign professionals in so‑called “specialty occupations” who are outside the United States 🇺🇸 and are expected to affect both the upcoming fiscal year 2027 cap season and ongoing hiring plans across major industries.

Administration rationale and public framing

The proclamation, released by President Trump, states that the H‑1B program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower‑paid, lower‑skilled labor.” It cites one unnamed software company that was approved for more than 5,000 H‑1B workers in fiscal year 2025 while laying off more than 15,000 employees around the same time.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, this framing signals a clear attempt by the administration to recast the H‑1B visa from a broad labor tool into a more narrowly controlled option reserved for situations the government views as clearly serving U.S. interests.

The new $100,000 payment requirement

At the center of the policy shift is the new $100,000 payment requirement.

• Employers must submit this one‑time payment with H‑1B petitions filed for workers who are currently outside the United States.
• The fee became effective on September 21, 2025, and applies to all new H‑1B visa petitions filed after that date, including those entered in the fiscal year 2027 cap lottery planned for March 2026.
• The payment does not apply to H‑1B extensions or to anyone who took part in the fiscal year 2026 lottery held in March 2025, creating a sharp dividing line between existing and future applicants.

The proclamation requires employers to “obtain and retain documentation showing that the payment described in section 1 of this proclamation has been made” before filing an H‑1B petition for a worker abroad. The Secretary of State must verify receipt of the payment during visa processing and is instructed to approve only those H‑1B visas where the employer has made the required payment.

• Employers who fail to show proof of payment risk denial of the petition even if the job and worker otherwise meet H‑1B standards.

For readers seeking the current statutory background on the H‑1B specialty occupation category, the Department of Homeland Security maintains an overview on its official site at uscis.gov.

Timing limits and travel/use of B visas

Beyond the financial barrier, the proclamation directs new limits on the timing and handling of H‑1B cases for workers outside the country.

• For 12 months following the effective date of the proclamation, decisions on H‑1B petitions for such workers are restricted, though the text leaves room for future review and possible extension.
• The Secretary of State must issue guidance to stop misuse of B visas by foreign nationals who already hold approved H‑1B petitions with employment start dates before October 1, 2026. This targets the practice of entering on visitor status while waiting for H‑1B employment to begin.

Related DHS proposed rule on H‑1B selection

In a separate but related move, the Department of Homeland Security on September 24, 2025, proposed new regulations that would reshape H‑1B distribution.

• Instead of the long‑standing random lottery, the proposal would base selection on the skill level required and the wages offered for each job.
• The draft rule would require a prevailing wage analysis using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES data) before H‑1B registration can be filed.
• The public comment period on this proposal closed on October 24, 2025, setting the stage for a final rule that could interact with the proclamation’s $100,000 payment requirement in deciding which petitions move forward.

Supporters’ and critics’ perspectives

The administration’s message is that these shifts are needed to protect U.S. workers and to stop what it describes as abuse by large outsourcing and technology companies. Supporters of tighter controls are likely to point to the example in the proclamation of thousands of H‑1B approvals at the same time as tens of thousands of layoffs.

Critics, however, warn that a $100,000 payment requirement will be impossible for many smaller employers, research teams, and nonprofit organizations and could effectively lock them out of the H‑1B system, even when they have genuine shortages of specialized talent.

Potential exemptions and requests from stakeholders

The proclamation leaves one possible outlet: carefully limited exemptions.

• It allows the Department of Homeland Security to grant exceptions if it decides a case is “in the national interest of the United States and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.”
• On September 29, 2025, the American Hospital Association formally asked the administration to create exemptions for health care workers. The group cited fiscal year 2024 data showing that of nearly 400,000 approved H‑1B petitions, 16,937 (or 4.2%) were for medicine and health jobs, and about half of those were for physicians and surgeons.

Hospital leaders argue that placing a $100,000 price tag on each overseas doctor could worsen staffing gaps, especially in already stretched facilities.

Who is watching and next steps

Universities, research institutions, and multinational firms that rely on the H‑1B visa for specialized roles now face new uncertainty over costs, timing, and the potential for further action when the proclamation’s review clause comes due.

• The proclamation orders that no later than 30 days after the first H‑1B lottery following the proclamation, the Secretary of State, Attorney General, Secretary of Labor, and Secretary of Homeland Security must jointly send the President recommendations on whether continuing or renewing the restrictions “is in the interests of the United States.”
• That means the current 12‑month limits may only be a first step rather than an endpoint.

For foreign professionals and students hoping to move into H‑1B status, the announcements add another layer of anxiety to a process that already hinges on strict caps and tight filing windows.

• Those outside the United States now face not only the usual questions about selection and adjudication, but also whether a sponsoring employer can afford the additional $100,000 payment and is willing to commit that money before filing.
• Workers who were planning to use a B visa to enter the country early while waiting for an H‑1B start date before October 1, 2026, must also factor in the State Department’s forthcoming guidance intended to prevent that strategy.

Quick summary table of key provisions

Key takeaway: The combination of the presidential proclamation and DHS’s proposed rule marks one of the most sweeping executive efforts in years to reshape the H‑1B system — introducing a $100,000 payment requirement, temporary adjudication limits for overseas applicants, and a potential shift from lottery selection to a wage/skill‑based selection system.

Implementation details remain with the agencies. Employers, workers, and advocacy groups are closely watching:
– how strictly consular officers enforce proof of the $100,000 payment requirement;
– how the selection rules based on wages and skill levels are finalized; and
– whether broad exemptions (for example, for health care) materialize in practice.