The Trump administration has extended the $100,000 payment requirement linked to certain H-1B visa applications for another year, keeping the restriction in place until September 21, 2027. The move is significant for Indian professionals, who account for the largest share of H-1B beneficiaries.
Under the September 18 presidential proclamation, employers seeking to bring certain H-1B specialty-occupation workers into the United States must make the $100,000 payment, subject to specified exceptions. The restriction applies to eligible workers outside the US who require admission to take up their approved H-1B employment.
The administration says the measure is intended to address what it describes as misuse of the H-1B programme and protect employment opportunities for American workers. A separate executive order also directs federal agencies to examine employers’ recent or planned layoffs of comparable US workers while reviewing H-1B applications.
The White House says H-1B registrations by the largest IT outsourcing firms fell by 92% after the earlier measure was introduced in 2025. The administration has cited this decline as evidence that the policy has discouraged lower-paid foreign recruitment.
For Indian technology professionals and employers, the continuation could add substantial costs to overseas hiring. However, the $100,000 requirement does not apply universally to every H-1B worker, and legal challenges to the policy remain ongoing.
The extension therefore keeps the H-1B programme under heightened scrutiny while uncertainty continues over the policy’s longer-term legal and employment impact.
