United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued today a memorandum that attempts to explain the agency’s interpretation of the 9/19/2025 Presidential Proclamation entitled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. That Proclamation restricted admission to the United States of certain H-1B nonimmigrants whose employers had not paid a $100,000 fee, effective at 12:01am EDT on Sunday, September 21.

The USCIS memo states that the proclamation “only applies prospectively to 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 the effective date of the proclamation, 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.”

Per this guidance, any H-1B nonimmigrant who currently holds H-1B status will not be subject the restriction described in the proclamation and may travel freely to the United States.

Since USCIS is not responsible for the admission of foreign nationals, this memo does not provide definitive guidance as to the admissibility of H-1B holders who appear to be included in the scope of the proclamation.  United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) is the only agency with authority over the admission and denial of admission of foreign nationals and has not yet expressed its official position on this issue.  Caution should therefore be exercised by any H-1B nonimmigrant seeking admission to the United States before this official position is announced.