File photo: US President Donald TrumpIn a major development especially for Indian tech professionals who constitute a fair chunk of H-1B visa holders and American sponsoring companies, US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh presidential proclamation extending the controversial $100K H-1B visa fee for another 12 months, stretching the policy through Sept 21, 2027.However, immigration attorneys emphasize that despite the White House's aggressive push, the fee remains legally blocked by a federal court order.Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explained, “The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) remains barred from collecting the $100K H-1B fee under the Sept 2025 proclamation, which was due to expire on Sept 21, 2026. Since the new proclamation is issued as an extension, USCIS should be barred from collecting the $100K fee under the new proclamation as well. If USCIS takes the position that the new proclamation is outside of the purview of the existing court order, plaintiffs in the ongoing litigation are likely to quickly challenge that view.”Greg Siskind, co-founder at Siskind Susser, an immigration law firm pointed out that the language is virtually identical in the new proclamation, but the new version states that the fee applies to people seeking admission from outside the US (via consulates or ports of entry)—turning previous agency guidance into official proclamation text.The preamble to this proclamation explicitly states that: “Finally, my Administration continues to explore other complementary efforts that would, among other things, reform the H-1B program and assist with cost-recovery for immigration program administration.”Siskind adds that this signals that the Trump administration may try to implement permanent high fees through the standard rule making process of notice-and-comment.Furthermore, sponsoring employers could also face a compounding financial squeeze from a separate proposed regulation targeting an additional $103K fee, which would not only apply to H-1Bs who were outside US and were selected in the lottery, but will also cover students from within the US who are transiting from a F-1 visa to an H-1B.Read also: US proposes $103,265 H-1B fee: Hiring set to become more costlyWexler adds, “In addition, last month, USCIS separately proposed a regulation that would impose a fee of more than $103K on all cap-subjectH-1B petitions. That fee would be separate from and in addition to the $100K H-1B proclamation fee, where applicable, if the proclamation fee were to be reinstated by further court order.”Thus, if the proclamation fee is ultimately revived by higher courts and the separate USCIS cap-subject fee rule goes into final effect, affected employers could theoretically face cumulative financial barriers totaling over $200K per petition (application) for sponsoring H-1B cap workers.Core takeaways:Read also: US appeals court refuses to stay order striking down Trump's $100k H-1B fee; relief for sponsoring employersKey statistics and claims from the White House proclamation:The newly released White House proclamation details several official metrics highlighting the administration's policy impacts since the original Sept 2025 order:The Indian workforce connection:Indian nationals especially those in the tech sector represent the absolute backbone of the H-1B programme, making any major shifts in policy disproportionately impactful on the Indian diaspora, even as reliance on H-1B visas by Indian tech companies has significantly reduced.According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) only three Indian-based companies in FY 2025 were among the top 25 employers with approved H-1B petitions for initial employment. In FY 2025, the top seven Indian-based companies had only 4,573 H-1B petitions approved for initial employment, a 70% drop from FY 2015 and 37% fewer than in FY 2024.However, Indians continue to dominate the H-1B visa holders spectrum.With the White House doubling down on its high-skilled immigration overhaul even as federal courts block its path, stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic are bracing for a prolonged legal showdown. For India’s massive tech diaspora and the corporate giants relying on their expertise, the coming months will test the limits of executive power over America's borders.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.