U.S. Immigration Alerts

President Trump Signs Proclamation Overhauling the H-1B Program

• On Friday, September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that pushes through a major overhaul of the H-1B visa program. The proclamation goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, September 21, 2025. 
• One proposed change introduces a new annual fee of $100,000 that companies will need to pay to be eligible for the H-1B program. The Secretary of Homeland Security can only approve H-1B visa petitions that are accompanied by this fee. 
• The new fee would be in addition to all existing H-1B program fees. 

• The proclamation allows for exemptions for those foreign workers that the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that ‘the hiring [of such aliens]… is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the U.S.’
• The proclamation also directs the Secretary of Labor to initiate a rule-making process to revise prevailing wage levels under the H-1B program. Further, it requires that Department of Homeland Security prioritize admissions for high-skilled and high-paid foreign workers. 
• Tech industries are likely to be heavily affected by this change. Because many tech companies rely significantly on H-1B visas to hire specialized talent—software engineers, IT specialists, etc.—these proposed fee changes and wage adjustments would materially increase the cost and risk of sponsoring foreign skilled workers. 
• The proclamation also aims to prevent misuse of B visas by foreign national beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions that have an employment start date beginning prior to October 1, 2026. 
• A spokesperson from the American Immigration Council posted on BlueSky tonight that this proclamation is “almost certainly illegal and likely to be struck down in court” because only Congress is authorized to set fees to recover the costs of petition adjudications. 

Fakhoury Global Immigration is monitoring these developments very closely and will provide further updates as warranted. Should you have any questions, please contact your immigration attorney or FGI at info@employmentimmigration.com or (+1) 248.643.4900.