H-1B Fee Blocked 2026: Complete Guide to the Status

The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position means that, as of November 2026, the United States government is not collecting the $100,000 payment that was attached to certain new H-1B petitions, even though the proclamation behind the payment has been renewed until September 2027. That contrast is the heart of the story. On paper, the payment condition is still in force. In practice, federal courts have vacated the agency guidance used to collect it, so employers are not being asked to pay it today.

Anyone planning an H-1B move needs to understand both halves of that picture, because the position could change if the appeals go the government’s way.

This guide explains the H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position in plain terms, using only official sources and court records. It covers what Proclamation 11069 actually says, which courts stopped the collection, who the payment would affect if it returned, and the separate proposed fee that is often confused with it.

It also explains what workers and employers should do while the position is unsettled, and where to check for the next change. If you are weighing a move to the United States, or an employer is planning a hire, this is the current picture as of November 2026.

What the H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 Ruling Means for Workers

Proclamation 11069, signed on 18 September 2026, renewed the $100,000 payment condition for a further 12 months, running until 21 September 2027. It covers only H-1B specialty-occupation workers under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the Proclamation 11069, entry as an H-1B worker is restricted unless the petition is accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.

That is the rule on paper. The reason the H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position exists is that the courts have dealt with the collection machinery, not the proclamation itself. The proclamation still stands, but the agency guidance that put it into effect has been vacated, so there is no working route to collect the payment today.

One point causes repeated confusion, so it is worth stating plainly. The $100,000 payment is not a standard USCIS filing fee, and it sits apart from the regular H-1B filing fees, which still apply in the normal way.

Employers filing H-1B petitions still pay the usual fees for the petition itself. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position changes nothing about those ordinary fees. It concerns only the extra $100,000 payment, which was tied to entry for certain new petitions. Workers should therefore not assume that H-1B filing has become free, and employers should not budget as though the ordinary costs have disappeared.

The Court Cases Behind the Block

The first ruling came on 8 June 2026, when the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated the agency guidance implementing the $100,000 payment requirement in California v. Mullin. The court set aside the guidance rather than the proclamation, which is why the restriction remains on the books while collection has stopped.

The government appealed, and the case is now before the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit as case number 26-1699, with the states’ brief due on 4 November 2026. Until that appeal is decided, the district court’s order stands, and the payment is not being collected under the vacated guidance.

A second ruling followed on 30 September 2026 in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, when a federal court again set aside the policies used to collect the payment. That case is now on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as case number 26-6667, with the government’s opening brief due on 6 November 2026 and the answering brief due on 4 December 2026.

A third appeal, Chamber of Commerce v. DHS, case number 25-5473 in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was argued on 9 March 2026. Together, the cases mean the collection question is being tested in three separate appeals courts at the same time, and no final answer exists yet.

Who Is Affected by the H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 Position

Even if collection resumed, the payment would apply only to certain new petitions for workers who are outside the United States at the time of filing. It would not cover a change of status, an extension or an amendment granted inside the United States, petitions filed before the relevant date, or people who already hold valid H-1B visas. That narrow scope matters, because many of the H-1B cases people worry about would never have fallen inside it.

The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position therefore matters most to employers planning to bring a new worker into the United States from abroad, rather than to workers already in the country on H-1B status.

Proclamation 11069 contains no exemption for universities or cap-exempt employers as a class, so higher education and research employers should not assume they sit outside the restriction. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position is what protects those employers at present, not an exemption in the proclamation itself.

The scale of the change is visible in official figures. CRS Insight IN12747, published on 14 October 2026, reported that initial H-1B petitions for consular processing from cap-exempt employers fell by 91 per cent in the first eight months of the payment, compared with a year earlier. For broader context on employer-sponsored routes, see our guide to visa sponsorship jobs in Canada, the UK and the USA.

What Happens If the Court Order Is Lifted

The USCIS Form I-129 page, updated on 30 October 2026, states that if the court order is later lifted, the Department of Homeland Security still plans to collect the payment. That is the clearest official signal of what would happen next.

The proclamation itself runs until 21 September 2027, so there is a long window in which an appeal decision could restore collection. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position is therefore best treated as a pause rather than a permanent end, and anyone with a petition in preparation should plan for both outcomes rather than assuming the payment has gone away for good.

Practical preparation starts with the official pages. Workers should keep copies of every filing, receipt and approval notice, and employers should keep their petition records in order, so that a sudden change in the rules does not catch them without paperwork.

It is also worth checking the USCIS Form I-129 page before filing, since that is where the agency posts its current position on the court order. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position can change with a single appeal decision, and the official pages will show that change before any other source. Anyone with a case already in progress should also confirm how a change would affect their own petition, since the answer depends on the facts of that case.

The Proposed $103,265 Fee Explained

A second figure is often confused with the $100,000 payment, and it needs to be kept separate. On 25 August 2026, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a $103,265 fee for cap-subject H-1B petitions, published under RIN 1615-AD20. That proposal is not final, and the fee is not being collected. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position concerns the $100,000 payment under the proclamation, while the $103,265 figure concerns a separate proposed rule that would apply at filing for cap-subject petitions. The two amounts are different instruments, at different stages, and neither is being collected today.

Workers and employers should watch both, but they should not add the two figures together or treat one as a replacement for the other.

It is also worth noting that the proposed fee would work differently from the proclamation payment. The proposal, published on 25 August 2026 under RIN 1615-AD20, concerns a fee payable at filing for cap-subject H-1B petitions, while the proclamation payment was tied to entry for workers outside the United States.

Because the proposal is still only a proposal, no employer is paying it today, and no final rule has set a start date. Anyone reading news reports should check which of the two amounts a report is describing, since the two figures are easily confused.

What Employers and Workers Should Do Now

With the payment blocked and the appeals still running, the sensible course is to prepare as though the ordinary H-1B process continues, while keeping the proclamation in view. Employers should confirm which of their planned hires would fall inside the payment’s scope if collection resumed, and workers should keep their documents ready and their timelines flexible. The H-1B Fee Blocked 2026 position is good news for hiring in the short term, but it is not a reason to stop planning.

For the latest on related rule changes, read our update on the H-1B extension rule change, and keep an eye on the US Visa Bulletin for November 2026 for related developments.

The FY 2028 cap season also deserves attention. USCIS has not announced the FY 2028 H-1B cap registration dates as of November 2026, so no one can yet plan around a fixed opening date.

Workers and employers should watch the official USCIS announcements and use the waiting time to prepare documents and confirm job details. The registration timetable is separate from the court cases, and a change in one will not automatically change the other, so both need to be followed on their own terms.

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