Announcement Affecting Foreign Faculty and Some Students

From an email circulated earlier today:

Dear UCLA H-1B Visa holders,

 

As you may know, a Presidential Proclamation* was issued on September 19, 2025, that restricts entry of H-1B specialty occupation workers unless employers pay a $100,000 fee per petition. As we understand it, the fee requirement is initially effective for one year, beginning September 21, 2025, and ending September 21, 2026.

 

The Whitehouse [sic] has issued information** that seems to indicate that the Proclamation is for new H-1B visa applicants, which would be welcome news. However, logistics and implementation details have not been released by the Department of Homeland Security or Department of State, so there is still uncertainty about how this policy will be enforced.  We are still in the process of analyzing the potential impact of this Proclamation on the UCLA community. While many details remain unknown, we are sharing recommendations based on the text of the proclamation.  

 

·         If you currently hold an H-1B status and are outside the United States, you may be impacted by this Proclamation.

 

·         The restrictions of this Proclamation will apply to individuals on an H-1B visa entering or attempting to enter the U.S. after Saturday 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (8:59 PST) on September 20, 2025 (TODAY).

 

·         Any H-1B holder who has plans to travel in the next few days, we suggest waiting to make or change plans until next week when there will likely be more clarity. 

 

·         It is our understanding that H-1B status holders already in the United States as of that date will not be directly impacted, unless they depart and attempt to reenter the country.

 

·         It is also our understanding that this proclamation will impact both H-1B visa holders initially entering the U.S. in H-1B status and H-1B who have renewed their visa and re-entered the U.S.

 

·         The proclamation notes that in the future there will be possible exceptions; but as of now, there are no known exceptions. We will send out more details as we can gather further information.

 

·         Entry to the U.S. using other visa categories (e.g. B-1, B-2) to perform employment-based related activities is discouraged.

 

If you do not come back to the U.S. before the deadline, please do not plan to travel Sunday or early next week until we have more guidance. If you are outside the U.S. and cannot re-enter due to the proclamation, please email us at chr@chr.ucla.edu for campus employees and at mchrbenefitsteam@mednet.ucla.edu for Health employees

 

Sincerely,

Michael J. Beck Administrative Vice Chancellor

Monroe Gorden Jr. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs ===

 *https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restriction-on-entry-of-certain-nonimmigrant-workers/.

**https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/09/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-suspends-the-entry-of-certain-alien-nonimmigrant-workers/.