The H-1B visa connects the world’s top talent with the companies that need it, but recent changes have sent waves of worry through prospective employees and employers. With that in mind, we are following up on our initial coverage of the new $100K fee for the H-1B visa to take a closer look at who it affects.
To recap, on September 19th, 2025, the Trump administration announced the addition of a $100,000 price tag to the H-1B visa. In 2020, the U.S. government estimated there to be over 500,000 holders of the H-1B visa, intended for highly skilled workers in “specialty occupations.” Currently, a lottery system allocates 85,000 H-1B visas each year. By increasing the fee attached to the H-1B visa by 6,566.7%, the administration aims to curtail the number of foreign workers entering the U.S. on an H-1B visa.
More recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released guidance that begins to answer some of the nation’s most pressing questions.
The USCIS statement
The USCIS’s statements include the following:
“The Proclamation applies to new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa. The Proclamation also applies if a petition filed at or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, requests consular notification, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection for an alien in the United States.”
And:
“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. Further, an alien beneficiary of such petition will not be considered to be subject to the payment 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.”
Who Will the Fee Apply to?
The most significant revelation here is that the H-1B fee will not apply to people moving from one visa category to another (provided they are not leaving the country) or applying for a visa extension. Those graduating from university and converting their F1 into an H-1B, for example, would not be subject to the fee. (It’s worth noting here that the fee will only be waived if the “amendment, change, or extension” is “granted.” If denied, or the individual involved deemed ineligible, the fee will apply.)
The USCIS’s statement provides clarification on travel, too. It confirms that the H-1B fee will only be waived for those applying from inside the U.S. The individual must wait for their application to be adjudicated before leaving the U.S.; if they leave before a visa extension or change is approved, the H-1B fee will apply. Once approved, individuals are free to travel in and out of the U.S. as they please.
The USCIS statement also describes the possibility of exceptions to the fee, which are granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security, but “extremely rare.” They might occur when “the Secretary has determined that a particular alien worker’s presence in the United States as an H-1B worker is in the national interest, that no American worker is available to fill the role, that the alien worker does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States, and that requiring the petitioning employer to make the payment on the alien’s behalf would significantly undermine the interests of the United States.”
A final point to note is the increased use of restrictive and hostile language. Forbes takes care to emphasize this in its analysis of the new guidance, stating that the USCIS “inserts words or phrases that do not appear in the proclamation, including “extraordinarily rare,” “high threshold,” “significantly undermine” and “no American worker is available to fill the role.”
What This Means for MBA Students
International MBA students will not apply directly for an H-1B visa upon entering the U.S. Instead, they will apply for an F1 visa under which they will conduct their studies. Upon graduating, they will likely apply for an OPT visa. This will last for between 1 and 3 years depending on whether they completed a STEM-designated program. When they do apply for an H-1B visa, they will doing so from an OPT or (less likely) an F1.
This means that international MBA students fall under the category of those applying for an “amendment, change, or extension.” They will, therefore, not be subject to the H-1B fee.
This is fairly significant news for those hoping to study and build a career in the U.S. Some claim that this policy will now actually benefit MBA graduates: That the fee applies only to those petitioning from overseas effectively puts a $100K price tag on employer efforts to undercut U.S. graduates (international or otherwise) by hiring individuals who live abroad and would accept lower salaries.
That said, it’s worth noting that skepticism is still rife – and for good reason. Many critics make the valid point that the shifting policies do not exactly inspire confidence in what is to come. International students, graduates, and employees have been the subject of hostile language and restrictive policies throughout the Trump administration, and employers may harbor concerns about opting for international employees in such a landscape. And for an administration that has been attacking higher-ed, the exception for MBA students almost seems like an oversight. But amid these doubts, the USCIS’ clarifications ultimately boil down to good news for current and prospective international MBA students.
