'Nothing changes yet': Immigration lawyer explains new $103,265 H-1B fee rule is not final; there will be litigation

The Donald Trump administration dropped another H-1B bombshell Monday as it tweaked the $100,000 H-1B fee and issued a draft rule increasing the fee to $103,265. The increase is not the main issue of the new proposal; in the new proposal, every H-1B petition will have to pay this fee, while the earlier $100K was meant for only those who needed to undergo consular processing. This means that the earlier fee was not applicable to those who were already in the US and got selected in the H-1B lottery. But the new proposal says everyone will have to pay the new fee if they are picked by the lottery.