The White House has indicated that physicians and medical residents might be exempted from the $100,000 fee imposed on many new H-1B visa applications. Taylor Rogers, speaking for the administration, said that the presidential proclamation includes potential exemptions “which can include physicians and medical residents.”
President Donald Trump’s proclamation, titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,” mandates that companies filing new H-1B petitions for specialty occupation workers currently outside the U. S. must include a $100,000 fee with the petition. The proclamation takes effect 12:01 a. m. Eastern on 21 September 2025, and is designed to curb abuses of the H-1B system.
Exemptions are built into the policy. Section 1 of the proclamation grants the Secretary of Homeland Security discretionary power to waive the fee either for individual non-citizens, all non-citizens working for a specific company, or those in an industry, if their hiring is judged to be in the national interest and does not jeopardise U. S. security or welfare. Healthcare professionals are seen as strong candidates for exemption under this clause.
Current H-1B visa holders, as well as those whose petitions were filed before the effective date, are not affected. The proclamation does not change fees associated with renewals, nor does it apply to existing holders who are traveling into or out of the U. S.
Medical and healthcare organisations have expressed concern about how the fee would worsen provider shortages, especially in rural and underserved areas. Studies show thousands of residency posts are filled by international medical graduates, making them essential to the physician workforce. Exemptions for doctors would help mitigate the financial strain for hospitals and medical centres hiring foreign-trained professionals.
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