The White House issued a Presidential Proclamation on Friday night restricting H-1B visa issuances to applicants outside of the U.S. Under the proclamation, employers are required to pay a $100,000 fee per applicant for an H-1B visa stamp. The directive goes into effect on Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To clarify the proclamation, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services issued a memo this afternoon saying that the proclamation only applies in the future to petitions that have not yet been filed.
According to the memo, the proclamation doesn’t apply to people whose petitions were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, have currently approved petitions or have a valid H-1B non-immigrant visa.
We understand the proclamation is causing distress for our community.
The university will continue to monitor additional statements and instructions from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services and Departments of State and Homeland Security to provide further guidance.
Out of an abundance of caution, all faculty and staff in H-1B status currently in the U.S. should put international travel plans on hold until they receive further guidance. If possible, any faculty and staff in H-1B status who are currently outside the U.S. are strongly recommended to return to the U.S. before the proclamation takes effect. Please contact FSVS with any questions you may have on how the proclamation might impact your travel plans.
The proclamation does not apply to faculty and staff currently in the following circumstances:
- In the U.S. in H-1B status.
- In Change of Status to H-1B processing such as F-1 to H-1B, J-1 to H-1B, O-1 to H-1B and TN to H-1B filed prior to Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
- In H-1B Extension of Status processing.
- In H-1B Change of Employer processing for H-1B change of employer.
- In H-1B status and in process for I-485 Adjustment of Status processing.
- In H-1B status traveling internationally and returning to the U.S. after September 21 with an unexpired H-1B visa stamp. (In an abundance of caution, we discourage nonessential international travel in this category until further details become available.)
- Canadian visa-exempt H-1Bs.