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H-1B row: USCIS say L1 and F1 visa holders exempted from $100,000 fee - rule doesn't apply to 'change of status'
USCIS clarified that existing visa holders, including F-1, L-1, and H-1B, won’t have to pay the new $100,000 fee for changing status or renewing H-1B.
In what could be a big relief for existing US visa holders, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified in a fresh guideline Monday that existing visa holders will not have to pay the newly announced $100,000 fee for a "change of status" to H-1B visa.
The new USCIS guidelines said existing visa holders, which include international students on F-1 visas and professionals on L-1 visas, will not have to pay $100,000 when they apply for a change of status to H-1B. Existing H-1B visa holders are also exempted from this fee while renewing their H-1B status, the USCIS said.
The fee of $100,000 was instituted by President Donald Trump through a proclamation on September 20, 2025, which said that individuals applying for H-1B visas at or after 12:01 a.m. ET on September 21, 2025, will have to pay the fee. After Trump's proclamation, the USCIS put up a set of guidelines where it said existing visa holders will not have to pay the fee - but the specific details were left vague.
In Monday's guidelines, they have been addressed in detail in a section titled, 'Who Is Subject To The $100,000 Fee.' It says the proclamation “does not apply to any previously issued and currently valid H-1B visas, or any petitions submitted prior to 12:01 a.m. ET on September 21, 2025.”
Additionally, the new guidelines said that the proclamation "does not prevent any holder of a current H-1B visa, or any alien beneficiary following petition approval, from traveling in and out of the United States."
What USCIS States For F-1 and L-1 Visa Holders
The USCIS's guidelines clarified that existing foreign nationals on F-1 or L-1 visas who have applied or will apply for a change of status to H-1B visa will not have to pay the $100,000 fee.
"The Proclamation also does not apply to a petition filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, that is requesting an amendment, change of status, or extension of stay for an alien inside the United States where the alien is granted such amendment, change, or extension," it states.
Additionally, it said that foreign nationals with expired F-1, L-1 or H-1B visas will not have to pay the fee "if he or she subsequently departs the United States and applies for a visa based on the approved petition and/or seeks to reenter the United States on a current H-1B visa."
