Employees
Presidential Proclamation on H-1B
Presidential Proclamation Affecting the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program
On Friday, September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a Proclamation: “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” that is intended to affect the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. Over the weekend, several memos were issued by the U.S. Government to clarify the language and intent of the original proclamation. USF World understands that there is significant concern regarding the impact on current H-1B visa holders at USF.
Please know that all current H-1B employees sponsored by USF received timely communication from our contracted law firm: Ogletree Deakins – at the time of the proclamation and throughout the weekend. Ogletree Deakins will continue to advise our H-1B population and is a trusted source for immigration and legal advice.
Given that each employee’s situation is unique, please encourage H-1B employees to seek guidance directly from Ogletree Deakins – especially as it relates to international travel. Should a current H-1B employee experience difficulty contacting Ogletree, please send an email to intlemployee@usf.edu and the Office of International Services will assist.
The recent Presidential Proclamation does NOT apply to current H-1B visa holders, but it could impact future petitions (meaning petitions that have not yet been filed). The proclamation does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to September 21, 2025, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas. The proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or from the United States.
The original Presidential Proclamation requires “a $100,000 payment to accompany any new H-1B visa petitions submitted after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, and any other H-1B petitions submitted after September 21, 2025.” As of today (September 22, 2025), we remain unclear if H-1B cap exempt organizations, such as universities, are exempt from this $100,000 one-time fee or not.
USF World will be working diligently with our legal team to understand the evolving situation around the H-1B program and developing a strategy for managing visa sponsorship at USF moving forward.
Listed below are a number of resources. We will continue to add to this repository as official documentation becomes available.
The original Presidential Proclamation issued September 19, 2025: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/
White House clarification of the Presidential Proclamation issued September 21, 2025: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/09/h-1b-faq/
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Memo issued September 20, 2025: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/memos/H1B_Proc_Memo_FINAL.pdf
Ogletree Deakins Blog Post: https://visatrax.com/blog-posts/new-uscis-and-cbp-guidance-on-the-h-1b-100000-proclamation/