August 2026 update on the first $100k H-1B fee

After the First Circuit refused to reimplement the Trump Administration’s first $100,000 H-1B tax, USCIS updated its website to acknowledge that that $100,000 tax is not currently in effect. However, USCIS also stated that they intend to collect the $100,000 in any applicable cases if the Trump Administration later wins the lawsuit. A level of risk therefore remains for petitioners to seriously consider prior to submitting H-1B petitions with a request for consular processing, which could later trigger the $100,000 tax.

See our previous posts on the first $100,000 tax here.