On Friday, July 24, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the government’s emergency request to stay a district court order vacating the $100,000 H-1B payment requirement. The case is State of California v. Mullin, No. 26-1699. The panel found that the government had not made a strong showing that it is likely to win its appeal.

What is the current state? USCIS may not assess the $100,000 payment. The decision applies nationwide, not just to the plaintiff states. USCIS has not yet published revised filing instructions, and no refund process has been announced for employers who already paid.

How did we get here? The September 19, 2025 presidential proclamation imposed a $100,000 payment on certain new H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, specifically those filed for, or only approvable through, consular notification. On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated the implementing policy nationwide, holding that the payment functioned as a tax that only Congress can impose and that the agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The district court then briefly paused its own order so the government could seek appellate relief, which allowed USCIS to keep collecting the fee from June 12 forward. Friday’s order ends that pause and permits the original judgment against the $100,000 payment to take effect.

What should employers do now?

1. Hold new consular notification filings for a short period until USCIS posts updated filing instructions. The agency has changed course on this policy more than once, and a rejection over fee documentation costs more time than a brief wait.
2. Preserve payment records, receipts, and confirmation numbers for every $100,000 payment made since September 21, 2025. Any refund mechanism will certainly require documentation from the employer.
3. Revisit hires that were deferred, restructured, or canceled because of the fee. Those cases are actionable again.
4. Note that petitions requesting change of status, extension, or amendment for beneficiaries inside the United States were never subject to the payment and remain unaffected.

What comes next? The merits appeal is still pending in the First Circuit. A federal court in Washington, D.C. reached the opposite conclusion and upheld the proclamation in December 2025, and that case is on appeal in the D.C. Circuit. The conflict between the two circuits raises the likelihood of Supreme Court review, and the administration may seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court in the meantime. Employers should plan for the possibility that the payment requirement returns.