FILE – In this Aug. 17, 2018, file photo, people arrive before the start of a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami Field Office in Miami. The number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising “serious concerns” that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage, authorities said Friday. There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

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Dan Gooding

By Dan Gooding

Associate News Editor

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The Trump administration has revealed how H-1B applicants can pay the new $100,000 fee, and who is exempt from paying it, a month after the president announced the change.

In an update Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directed applicants to a payment portal, telling them they could only apply with a receipt showing the new fee had been submitted to the government. The agency also said some applicants, like student visa holders, may be exempt from the fee.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump announced the new H-1B fee on September 19, but his promises of some exemptions were not clear and immigration attorneys complained that they did not have an obvious route to pay the government when submitting applications. USCIS said Monday it was assisting in efforts to reform the program, which has been a point of contention for many years.

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People arrive before the start of a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Miami on August 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

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What To Know

As part of ongoing efforts by the White House to reform the immigration system and prioritize American workers, Trump announced the new H-1B fee as a way to still attract the best and brightest, while also making sure the system was not being abused to bring in cheap labor.

Critics said the steep fee increase would leave small- and medium-sized businesses reliant on foreign talent at a disadvantage. The conservative-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced last week that it was suing the Trump administration, alleging the president did not have legal authority to change the fee.

H-1B Guidance: How to Pay New Fees, Who is Exempt

USCIS updated its website Monday to lay out who must pay the new H-1B fee and where they should pay it, while also listing a set of exemptions to the new rule.

The new fee applies to the majority of H-1B applications filed from outside the U.S. after 12:01 a.m. ET September 21. H-1B holders already in the U.S. applying for renewals or extensions do not have the pay the new fee, and neither do those who had filed new applications before September 21.

There are some exemptions to the fee, namely those who apply for an H-1B from an existing visa. For example, an F-1 student visa holder who seeks to switch to an H-1B after their studies are completed would be exempt from paying $100,000.

USCIS said that even if those applicants who leave the U.S., then reenter would still not need to pay the fee. This had been an area of confusion following the president's Oval Office announcement.

Other exemptions will be granted by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in "extraordinarily rare circumstances," USCIS said, including if no American worker is able to fill the role, or the immigrant's employment is in the national interest.

As for payment, USCIS said applicants should submit the fee through pay.gov, providing clarity for petitioners, as fees are often collected via the USCIS website.

The agency said payment must be made before filing an H-1B petition to USCIS, and that any paperwork filed without clear evidence for exemption would be denied.

What People Are Saying

Taylor Rogers, White House spokesperson, told Newsweek on October 16: “President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H1-B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.”

Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, on X Monday: "~80% of H1Bs are for changes of status, so the lottery will still be oversubscribed (unless people are simply deterred because of confusion and uncertainty). So we still really need to fix the lottery."

What's Next

The new fee is now fully in effect. It remains to be seen how much impact this will have on application numbers, with the latest lottery round already closed.

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