Travel Ban on H-1B Nonimmigrants - Update

As an update to our message this weekend, both U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released memorandums on their implementation of Trump’s new policy. Specifically, USCIS has stated that the Proclamation only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed (i.e. any filed after September 21, 2025 at 12:01 ET.) USCIS also stated that the Proclamation should not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or from the United States. CBP also confirmed the prospective applicability and that they will continue to process current H-1B visa holders in accordance with existing policies and procedures. This means that existing H-1B visa holders should not be impacted. 

However, the future of the H-1B program is currently in limbo as we await further guidance from the Department of Homeland Security. In the Proclamation, President Trump ordered an additional one-time fee of $100,000 for new H-1B petitions for workers who are currently outside of the U.S. Therefore, this fee will theoretically be assessed for any new H-1B cap case (those filed in the next H-1B round). He also proposed a “weighted” system for the H-1B, whereby the H-1B selection would no longer be conducted as a lottery, but a weighted system geared towards those offering higher wages. We will provide further guidance on the impact on future H-1Bs as soon as additional information is released.