Getting selected in the H-1B lottery is a big moment. For many F-1 students, it feels like things are finally moving forward. You earned this. But before you book any travel, there is one specific thing you need to understand: a $100,000 fee that most people are thinking about, and exactly how it gets triggered. This is not a fee you pay directly. But it is one your employer could be exposed to because of a decision you make about travel. Here is what to know.

Where the $100,000 fee comes from

On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a Proclamation titled "Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers." One of its core provisions requires a $100,000 payment to accompany any new H-1B petition submitted after 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 21, 2025.

That includes all FY2027 lottery petitions. The fee is paid by the employer, not the employee. It is a one-time fee on new petitions only: not renewals, not extensions, and not previously issued visas.

The Proclamation also makes clear that it does not prevent current H-1B visa holders from traveling in and out of the United States. That part is straightforward. What is not straightforward is what happens when an F-1 student's travel causes their case to shift processing categories.

The trigger: consular processing

The $100,000 fee is tied to new H-1B visa issuance through consular processing. To understand the risk, you need to understand the difference between the two ways an H-1B petition can be processed.

1. Change of status: Your employer files the petition while you are in the U.S. If approved, your status automatically changes to H-1B on October 1. You never leave the country to activate it. Lower risk of triggering the fee.
2. Consular processing: Your petition is approved, but you must travel abroad, attend a visa interview, and receive an H-1B visa stamp before re-entering the U.S. in H-1B status. This is where the $100,000 fee exposure lives.

If your employer filed your petition as a change of status, the goal is to keep it that way. The risk is that travel can shift it, without anyone intending that to happen.

How travel accidentally triggers it

Here is the sequence that creates the problem.

• Step 1: Your employer files as change of status - The plan is clean: petition is approved, status changes on October 1, no consular processing required.
• Step 2: You travel internationally before approval - You leave the U.S. while the petition is still pending, for any reason: visiting family, a conference, a short trip.
• Step 3: USCIS treats the change of status as abandoned - Departure before approval is treated as abandonment of the change of status request. Your petition can still be approved, but it is no longer a change of status case.
• Step 4: Your case now requires consular processing - To enter the U.S. in H-1B status, you must get an H-1B visa stamp at a consulate abroad. Your employer is now in consular processing territory, and that is where the $100,000 fee exposure enters the picture.

Fee exposure through this path is not guaranteed. The interpretation and application of the Proclamation is still evolving. But the mechanism is real, and the cost is significant enough that any F-1 student on a change of status filing should treat pre-approval travel as a decision with financial consequences for their employer, not just a personal logistics question. Talk to your employer's immigration counsel before booking anything.

One more situation that raises the same risk: cap-gap

If you are relying on cap-gap to bridge your OPT through October 1, travel creates an additional layer of risk that leads to the same place.

Cap-gap is an automatic extension of your F-1 OPT status that applies when your employer filed a change of status petition before your OPT expired and your petition was selected in the lottery. If you depart the U.S. during cap-gap, that extension is treated as abandoned. You may not be able to re-enter in F-1 status, and your case gets pushed into consular processing , bringing the same potential fee exposure for your employer.

If cap-gap is what is keeping your status intact right now, do not travel without speaking to an attorney first.

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Before you book anything

If you are considering international travel between now and October 1, the first question is not about your documents. It is about your filing type. Ask your employer or their immigration counsel:

• Was my H-1B filed as change of status or consular processing?
• If I travel before approval, what happens to my case?
• Am I currently in cap-gap, and does travel affect that?
• If my petition is approved while I am outside the U.S., what are the next steps and what does that cost the company?

Those answers will tell you whether travel is a reasonable decision or an expensive one. The goal is to make sure you are asking the question before you book, not after you land.

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