Small businesses that rely on specialized talent have long turned to the H-1B visa as the primary route to hire foreign professionals. The new requirement that employers pay a $100,000 fee for many H-1B cases filed after September 21, 2025 has changed that calculation. For large corporations, this new cost may be absorbable but for startups, boutique firms, local clinics, research labs, engineering shops, technology innovators, and other small employers, the fee can make the H-1B category functionally unavailable. Many employers who would ordinarily pursue H-1B sponsorship are now searching for realistic alternatives. This shift does not eliminate the possibility of hiring foreign talent. It does require creative, early planning to determine whether another visa classification aligns with the company’s needs and the candidate’s background. The goal is to match the role, the qualifications, and the business structure to a category that supports employment without triggering the $100,000 H-1B entry fee.
Read moreUSCIS Issues New Guidance on $100K H-1B Fee
Following President Trump’s September 19, 2025 proclamation “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” requiring employers to pay a $100,000 fee for certain H 1B workers seeking to enter the United States, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released additional guidance on October 20, 2025. This update, published on USCIS’s H-1B webpage , clarifies how and when the new fee applies but still leaves several key issues unresolved.
Read moreHelpful Q and A’s on the New H-1B Visa Rule
Uncertainty continues to surround the new presidential proclamation on H-1B visas, as critical operational details remain unresolved. Employers, attorneys, and H-1B beneficiaries alike should proceed with caution and be prepared for additional guidance and possible changes in the days ahead. We have published a more detailed overview of the proclamation, but in response to the immediate concerns raised by our community, we have prepared answers to some of the most pressing questions. These responses are based on the latest guidance from United Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and other official sources.
Read moreNavigating the New H-1B Executive Action: Advisory for H-1B Visa Holders
On Friday, September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation, “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” putting into effect a ban on H-1B specialty occupation employees from entering the United States as of September 21, 2025, unless their employer had paid a $100,000 fee for the sponsored employee. The announcement was unclear and seemed to imply that the newly imposed fee was applicable to all H-1B visa holders who were outside of the US on the 21st of September. As a result, a frenzy besieged the employment-based immigration community with many H-1B workers receiving “urgent e-mails…with travel advisories to remain in the US and asking those outside the country to return before the 12:01AM deadline on Sunday, September 21st.
Read moreAre Your I-9s in Order? What Every Employer Needs to Know About I-9 Compliance, Audits, and E-Verify
When onboarding new employees, most US employers are aware they must complete Form I-9 for every employee, but far fewer are prepared when the government comes calling. Given President Trump’s immigration directives, which focus heavily on enforcement efforts, the probability surrounding possible increases in site visits and surprise audits by various agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) , maintaining accurate I-9 records is not an option, but a legal obligation with real consequences. Is your business ready?
Read moreH-1B Salary Based Selection Process Final Rule is Officially Withdrawn
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that the January 2021 final rule modifying the H-1B selection process has officially been withdrawn by The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). This rule would have eliminated the random selection process known as the H-1B visa lottery, and replaced it with a process prioritizing those foreign nationals who are offered the highest salaries relative to their occupation and geographic area according to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) prevailing wage system.
Read moreDHS and DOL Make Key Changes to the H-1B Program and Permanent Labor Certifications and Labor Condition Applications
Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) published two interim final rules that make key changes to the H-1B visa program and permanent labor condition and labor condition application process. The rules, “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program” and “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States”, were both published on October 8, 2020.
Read moreUSCIS Accepts Re-filing of Rejected I-140 Petitions with E-certification or Electronically Reproduced Signatures
On March 20, 2020, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it would accept electronically reproduced signatures in benefit requests during the coronavirus (COVID-19) national emergency. Additionally, on March 24, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) announced that ETA Forms 9089, Application for Permanent Employment Certification (ETA 9089), will be issued electronically to employers and their authorized attorneys or agents. After these announcements, USCIS notes that the agency “inadvertently rejected some Forms I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, that included these e-certified ETA-9089s or blue ETA-9089s with electronically reproduced signatures.”
USCIS is requesting that affected petitioners re-submit their Form I-140 with the blue ETA Form 9089s or e-certified ETA-9089s with “either wet original signatures and/or scanned copies of the original signatures as well as a copy of the rejection notice.” If the petitioner’s inadvertently rejected ETA-9089 expired between March 20 and May 18, 2020, USCIS notes the agency will accept the re-filed Form I-140 petition along with the inadvertently rejected, expired ETA-9089 for the duration of the national emergency.
5 of the Most Important Federal Agencies Involved with US Immigration
We have previously written about the abundance of acronyms that are used by US immigration attorneys. At our office, some of those acronyms we use most frequently include: USCIS, CBP, DHS, DOS, and DOL, all of which happen to be five of the most important federal agencies involved in US immigration. (Immigration & Customs Enforcement—i.e., ICE—also has a large impact on some US immigrants, but our firm does not often work with this agency.) In this post, we provide a brief introduction to five of the federal agencies we work with most often, explain their areas of oversight, and how they are related.
Read moreH-1B Change of Work Locations: Practical Guidance after AAO’s Matter of Simeio
Late last month, following the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision of Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) released draft guidance on the practical application of the decision. USCIS will accept public comments on the draft until June 26, 2015. Even in draft form, we were pleased to see that their guidance really did answer a lot of the lingering questions we had after the Simeio decision (thank you, USCIS!), and since this decision and guidance could potentially affect quite a few H-1B petitioners and applicants who have multiple work locations or have moved locations recently, we thought it would be helpful to review the major points of the guidance as well as a very important deadline (it’s August 19, 2015).
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