Court Decision · Decided September 30, 2026 · JBNP Law
A federal judge in California has blocked the agencies from implementing or enforcing the $100,000 H-1B payment requirement, including as renewed in September 2026. It is the second court to act against it. The proclamation itself was not enjoined.
On September 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, No. 4:25-cv-08454 (court record). According to the plaintiffs’ counsel’s case page, the order bars the government from taking agency action to implement or enforce the $100,000 payment, both as adopted in the September 2025 proclamation and as extended in September 2026, until the government completes the notice-and-comment process the Administrative Procedure Act requires.
Counsel reports that the court found the agency policies arbitrary and capricious under the APA, because the agencies did not consider alternatives or the interests of affected third parties, and that they skipped required notice-and-comment. The court did not block the proclamation itself and did not decide whether the payment is an unconstitutional tax. It denied the government’s motion to dismiss and, for now, declined to certify a class, saying the order already applied broadly and that a court in Massachusetts had separately set aside the same policies.
Those Massachusetts proceedings are described on the USCIS H-1B page, which states that the District of Massachusetts vacated agency guidance implementing the payment on June 8, 2026 and that the First Circuit denied a stay on July 24, 2026. The government has said it disagrees and may seek further review, so this can change. See also our update on the renewed proclamation.
We are working from counsel’s description of the September 30 order. Read the order itself before relying on any detail here for a filing decision.
For clients with H-1B petitions, we are tracking the current USCIS and State Department instructions before each filing, because the practical handling of the payment can change as appeals move. We are not telling clients that the payment is gone. We are documenting what was paid or not paid and when, so the position is preserved if the injunctions are later narrowed or lifted.
If you have an H-1B filing planned, see our H-1B practice page and book a consultation so we can set the right strategy for your case.
This post is general information, current as of when it was written — not legal advice, and no substitute for talking to an attorney about your own case. This area is changing quickly, and reading this doesn’t make us your lawyers. Please get advice on your specific situation before you act.