Washington: In a major relief for foreign workers on H-1B visas, the US Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance on the $100,000 application fee, providing a series of exemptions and carveouts.

According to the new guidelines, workers who switch to H-1B visa status from other visa categories such as F-1 student status won’t be subjected to the $100,000 fee. H-1B workers applying for an amendment, change of status, or extension of stay within the United States won’t be subjected to the hefty payment.

Moreover, all the current H-1B visa holders won’t be prevented from entering or leaving the United States. The proclamation only applies to new visa petitions who are outside the US and do not have a valid H-1B visa. It also provided an online payment link for new applications.

The clarification comes just two days after US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s biggest business organisation, sued the Trump administration over the new rules, calling it “unlawful.”

In a lawsuit filed in the district court in Washington on Thursday, the plaintiff argued that the visa fee, if implemented, will “inflict significant harm on American businesses” and force them to “either dramatically increase their labour costs or hire fewer highly skilled employees for whom domestic replacements are not readily available.”

It added that Trump’s September 19 proclamation was “plainly unlawful” and a “boon to America’s economic rivals.”

It was the second major domestic legal challenge to new H-1B rules, after a group of unions, education professionals and religious bodies sued the Trump administration on October 3. While signing the proclamation in September, Trump had said the “incentive is to hire American workers.”

The proclamation caused immense confusion as it seemed to suggest that it would impact the current H-1B visa holders who may face hurdles in returning to the United States.

The White House issued a clarification to IANS on September 20, saying that this is a “one-time fee” that applies only to new visas and not renewals or current visa holders. India-born workers received over 70% of the total approved H1-B visas in 2024, primarily due to a huge backlog in approvals and high number of skilled immigrants from India.