PAUSE Act Instantly Halts Visa Processing, Ends OPT, and Slaps a $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas

The “Pausing on Admissions Until Security Ensured Act of 2025,” or the PAUSE Act, is about as subtle as a wrecking ball. This bill immediately slams the brakes on nearly all new immigration, prohibiting the U.S. government from issuing visas or granting almost any immigration status, effective immediately upon enactment. The only exception is for temporary visitors for pleasure (tourists). This sweeping immigration freeze stays in place indefinitely until Congress passes a series of major, highly restrictive changes to existing law, fundamentally reshaping who can come to the U.S. and what rights they have while here.

The Indefinite Immigration Freeze: What It Takes to Restart

This bill essentially holds all future immigration hostage until Congress agrees to a list of non-negotiable demands laid out in Section 2. If enacted, virtually all family-based and employment-based immigration stops cold until these changes are made. Among the requirements: immigration laws must be changed to allow states and local governments to deny public school access to children who are in the U.S. without lawful status. Furthermore, U.S. citizenship at birth would be restricted only to children with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident (LPR)—a massive change to current interpretation of birthright citizenship.

Benefits Cutoff and Ideological Screening

The PAUSE Act also requires that before immigration can resume, the U.S. must implement severe cuts to federal benefits for foreign nationals. If you’re here on a temporary visa—say, working on an L-1 or H-1B, or attending school on an F-1—you would lose access to a huge list of federal benefits, including Medicare, non-emergency Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), WIC, federal student aid, and housing assistance. Section 2 also mandates new screening criteria, banning the granting of status to anyone deemed an “Islamist,” an “observer of Sharia law,” or a member or associate of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This introduces religious and ideological tests that are incredibly broad and subjective, raising serious concerns about profiling.

The H-1B and Student Visa Shockwaves

For U.S. companies that rely on high-skilled foreign talent, the bill delivers a significant blow. Section 3 institutes a massive new $100,000 fee for every H-1B visa petition filed—whether it’s for an initial grant, an extension, or a change of employer. For most businesses, especially startups and mid-sized firms, this fee is prohibitive and essentially functions as a near-total ban on using the H-1B program. If you’re a software engineer or specialized worker, your employer will likely rethink sponsoring you at that price.

Adding to the impact on the high-skilled workforce, Section 4 immediately terminates the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. This program allows international students (F-1 visa holders) to work in the U.S. for up to a year (or longer in STEM fields) after graduation. If this passes, international students who just spent four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a U.S. degree would lose their primary pathway to gain initial work experience here. Worse, the bill immediately revokes work authorization for anyone already enrolled in OPT and cancels the applications of anyone selected for the Diversity Visa Lottery (Section 5), requiring the government to refund their fees.

What This Means on the Ground

If the PAUSE Act becomes law, the immediate effects would be dramatic. Families expecting a relative to immigrate would face an indefinite wait. U.S. universities would lose a major recruiting tool by eliminating OPT, potentially impacting their bottom lines. And for those foreign nationals currently living and working here legally but without LPR status, the sudden loss of access to essential services like non-emergency Medicaid or WIC could create significant hardship, especially for those with existing health conditions or young children.