Methodology

Last updated: 2026-07-26

This page explains how Visa Tools turns published immigration rules into the answers you see in each checker. If you are deciding whether to trust a green or red result card, start here.

Design principle: fixed published rules, not chat bots

Each interactive tool stores the facts that matter (effective dates, fee amounts, wage-level weights) and walks your multiple-choice answers through a fixed sequence of yes/no screens drawn from official guidance. The same answers always produce the same screening result until we deliberately update those published rules. There is no generative AI in the path that invents an exemption or a fee.

How the H-1B $100K fee checker was built

We aligned the checker with proclamation timing and USCIS implementing guidance patterns:

Valid unexpired H-1B + travel/re-entry only (no new petition) → exempt screening.
Petition filed before September 21, 2025, 12:01 AM EDT → exempt screening.
Cap-exempt petitioning employer (as selected by the user) → exempt screening under this model.
Consular / abroad visa-stamp path or in-US consular/POE/pre-flight notification → fee likely applies.
In-US change or extension of status with no travel → likely exempt if the case is clean; uncertain if the user flags denial-risk factors (because a COS/EOS denial that defaults to consular notification can change fee exposure).

Primary sources include the White House proclamation Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, the USCIS alert and H-1B specialty occupation guidance pages describing the $100,000 payment, and Federal Register publication of the proclamation. Litigation updates (including the June 8, 2026 district-court vacatur reporting) appear in a dated legal-status banner so visitors can see when we last verified court posture. See the checker’s Sources & Further Reading list for live URLs.

Other tools — same method

Total cost calculator — stacks published USCIS fee components (I-129 related fees, ACWIA tiers, fraud fee, Asylum Program Fee by employer size, optional premium processing) plus optional $100K line item and an attorney-fee range. Figures are dated and labeled “verify on USCIS before filing.”
Grace period tracker — applies the regulatory up-to-60-day unemployment grace concept to a user-supplied last day of employment and explains planning options (new petition, change of status, departure). It does not extend status by itself.
Lottery odds explainer — applies the wage-weighted selection entries from the DHS final rule effective February 27, 2026 (Level I = 1 entry … Level IV = 4 entries) as a relative-standing tool, not a fabricated exact probability when USCIS has not published a simple public odds table for your exact pool.
Priority date tracker — compares user inputs to a clearly dated Visa Bulletin snapshot (and prompts you to check the live bulletin) for country and preference category.

Review cadence

Immigration is not a once-a-year tax bracket update. We review:

immediately when a major USCIS alert, fee schedule change, proclamation, or court order affecting a live tool is published;
at least monthly for Visa Bulletin–dependent content;
whenever a user flags a suspected outdated rule via Contact.

Each tool page shows a “Last reviewed” date near its sources section. If that date is stale relative to a known government change, treat the tool as under review and verify on the official site before filing.

What we cite (and what we refuse to cite)

We prefer USCIS.gov, whitehouse.gov, travel.state.gov (Visa Bulletin), and federalregister.gov / govinfo.gov. We may cite reputable news or law-firm explainers for litigation timelines, but the operative rule should always be checkable against a primary document. We do not cite random visa-marketing blogs as authority for fee amounts.

If you believe a rule is wrong or outdated

Email info@toolspopper.com with: (1) which tool, (2) which step/result, (3) the official URL that conflicts, and (4) the date you checked it. We cannot give you legal advice in reply, but we can investigate and correct our published rules. For case-specific strategy, use a licensed immigration attorney.

Related: Editorial Policy · Disclaimer · About.