Two courts have now blocked the $100,000 H-1B fee. On 1 October, US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction against Sections 1, 2 and 3(a) of the proclamation that charges $100,000 for H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the US, finding it likely broke the Administrative Procedure Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act (JURIST, 1 October 2026). On the hiring side the week was quiet but not empty: Pinterest posted its 2027 new-grad software engineer role, and the Challenger September report, out the same day, counted 10,799 tech job cuts for the month.
Everything else was timing. The big-tech 2027 window is closing, the quant portals are still open but filling, and the Department of Labor's deadline to start reviewing H-1B layoff data lands on 18 October.
Applications that opened or closed
| Company | Role | Region | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Grad Software Engineer 2027 | San Francisco, remote US | Posted ~1 Oct | Pinterest careers | |
| University Grad Software Engineer | Dublin | Visible this week | Pinterest careers | |
| Snap | Software Engineer, Level 4 (iOS / Android) | Los Angeles +others | Added ~1–2 days | speedyapply board |
| Microsoft | Software Engineer (Intune / Forward Deployed) | Washington, DC area | Added ~1–2 days | speedyapply board |
| NVIDIA | AI Developer Technology Engineer | Santa Clara, remote | Added ~1–2 days | speedyapply board |
| Amazon | Software Development Engineer, Robotics | North Reading, MA | Added ~1–2 days | speedyapply board |
Pinterest is the one clean new-grad opening worth acting on. The posting wants a bachelor's or master's in CS or a related field with an expected graduation by June 2027, a start date between January and September 2027, and at least a year of programming experience from internships, research, coursework, open source or hackathons (Pinterest careers, retrieved 5 October 2026). There is a separate University Grad Software Engineer posting in Dublin, which is the more realistic entry point if you need work authorisation in Europe rather than the US.
The speedyapply 2027 new-grad board listed 936 US roles when we checked, with Snap, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Amazon reqs marked one to two days old (speedyapply, retrieved 5 October 2026). As last week, the board's pay figures run above the official ranges — it showed Snap at "$195k/yr" and Amazon's robotics role at "$186k/yr" — because the aggregator folds stock and bonus into one number. Treat those as total-comp estimates, not base, and check the posted range before you compare offers.
On the quant side there was nothing new for undergraduates. The summer-2027 trading, research and engineering reqs at Jane Street, Citadel, Citadel Securities, SIG, Optiver, HRT, D. E. Shaw and Two Sigma have been live since July and August and are still open (quant recruiting guides, retrieved 5 October 2026). "Still open" is not the same as "no rush," which is the next section.
Interview and process changes
No firm announced a new interview format this week. The change that matters is the clock. Quant hiring runs rolling, and the public guides put the squeeze in October: roughly 70% of Citadel's offers are signed by mid-October, and Jane Street's interview slots are typically gone by late October, even though the portals stay open into December (quant recruiting guides, retrieved 5 October 2026). If you have not started a quant loop, the useful move is to apply to one firm and book the first-round assessment now rather than polishing applications for three.
Big tech is on the same curve. Public guides describe Microsoft's Aspire new-grad window as running August through October, with a smaller leftover round in January to March, and note that Meta aims to fill most of its new-grad class by Thanksgiving (Simplify guides, retrieved 5 October 2026). Pinterest opening on 1 October is late-cycle, not early, so read a new-grad posting that appears now as a seat that will close fast. Applr's Snap software engineer mock runs the coding-plus-system-design loop these consumer-product teams use, and the Jane Street quant researcher mock covers the probability and mental-math rounds for the quant track.
Comp, layoffs, and expansions
Challenger, Gray & Christmas published its September report on 1 October. US employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, down 18% from August's 52,881 and down 20% from September 2025. For the first nine months of 2026 the total is 573,195, down 39% from the same stretch of 2025 (Challenger, 1 October 2026).
Technology is the exception to that decline. The sector announced 10,799 cuts in September and 165,925 for the year so far, up 54% on 2025, and it accounts for 29% of all 2026 job cuts — more than any other industry (Challenger, 1 October 2026). Employers have cited AI in 120,136 of this year's announced cuts, about 21% of the total. Hiring plans tell the matching story for a new grad: announced hires total 210,612 for the year, up 3% on 2025, but September's 90,787 planned hires were down 23% year over year, which Challenger called "weak early seasonal hiring."
The takeaway is not "tech is collapsing." It is that the headcount is moving — fewer cuts overall, but technology leads them, and the autumn hiring that usually absorbs new grads is running thin. That is the backdrop for the visa rule below.
Visa and policy
The $100,000 fee: blocked for a second time
Judge Gilliam's 1 October order grants a preliminary injunction against the proclamation fee in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, brought by healthcare, educational and religious organisations (JURIST, 1 October 2026). The court held the fee likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act by skipping notice-and-comment rulemaking, the Regulatory Flexibility Act by not analysing the impact on small employers, and the Immigration and Nationality Act as an unauthorised delegation. The injunction holds "unless and until" the agencies complete proper rulemaking (Ogletree, retrieved 5 October 2026). A joint case management statement is due 20 October and a case management conference is set for 27 October.
Two things a student should keep straight. First, the proclamation was renewed on 21 September 2026 to run through 21 September 2027, but it is not being collected because of the court orders — Massachusetts vacated it in June 2026 and the First Circuit left that ruling in place on 24 July 2026 (SHRM, retrieved 5 October 2026). Second, this is a different animal from the proposed $103,265 DHS fee for cap-subject petitions, whose comment period closed on 24 September; the court order does not affect that proposal, and neither amount is payable today (Ogletree, retrieved 5 October 2026). One advocate on the case put the ruling bluntly, calling the fee "arbitrary, unauthorized, and deeply harmful" (Democracy Forward, via JURIST, 1 October 2026).
The layoffs executive order: 18 October deadline
The H-1B executive order signed on 18 September is about to produce its first concrete step. Within 30 days — by about 18 October — the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division must begin reviewing data from previously filed Labor Condition Applications to decide whether action is warranted (Boundless, retrieved 5 October 2026). Agencies evaluating an H-1B case must now weigh whether the employer "directly or indirectly conducted layoffs within the previous year" or plans future ones that hurt similarly situated US workers. With tech leading this year's cuts, that is a question to raise with a recruiter before you invest in a five-round loop at a company that reduced headcount in 2026.
Duration of status: 2 October was procedural
The 2 October hearing in the duration-of-status case was a status conference about how the litigation proceeds, not a decision on the rule's legality (EduConnect, retrieved 5 October 2026). The rule that would replace duration of status with fixed admission periods remains postponed nationwide, with no built-in expiration, under the Massachusetts order of 14 September. If you are on F-1 or J-1, nothing changed this week: keep a full course load, save the I-94 that shows "D/S," confirm your program end date, and do not file precautionary applications.
Still pending
| Item | Status on 5 Oct 2026 | Next date |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 H-1B proclamation fee | Blocked by N.D. Cal. on 1 Oct; renewed through 21 Sep 2027 | Case management conference 27 Oct |
| $103,265 H-1B cap fee (proposed) | Comments closed 24 Sep; not in effect | DHS final rule or withdrawal |
| H-1B layoffs executive order | Signed 18 Sep | DOL LCA review begins ~18 Oct |
| F-1 duration of status rule | Postponed nationwide; 2 Oct was procedural | Awaiting next court order |
| OPT fee rule (proposed) | Cleared White House review 11 Sep; not published | Federal Register, then 30–60 day comments |
| UK Graduate visa cut to 18 months | Announced Oct 2025 | Applications from 1 Jan 2027 |
The OPT fee is still the item with the most direct effect on a 2027 graduate and still has no published number; nothing appeared in the Federal Register by 5 October. In the UK, anyone finishing a master's in 2026–27 who applies for the Graduate visa from 1 January 2027 gets 18 months instead of two years — worth planning a job search around now.
What to do this week
1. Apply to Pinterest now if you graduate by June 2027. Late-cycle new-grad reqs fill on a rolling basis. Run your resume through the free ATS resume checker before you submit so it clears their filters.
2. Pick one quant firm and book the first round. With Citadel offers roughly 70% signed by mid-October, speed beats breadth. The Jane Street quant researcher mock covers the probability and mental-math rounds.
3. Ask the layoffs question before a long loop. Before a five-round process at a company that cut staff in 2026, ask the recruiter whether it is still filing H-1B petitions for 2027 hires. The DOL review deadline is 18 October.
4. If you are on F-1, do nothing extra on the visa rules. The $100,000 fee and the duration-of-status rule are both blocked. Keep your documents current and avoid precautionary filings.
5. Use the New Grad 2027 tracker for the quant and big-tech reqs that opened over the summer, and read last week's roundup, H-1B Fee Comments Close, Adobe Opens 2027 Grad Roles, for the background on the $103,265 proposal.
Sources
- JURIST, "Second federal judge blocks President Trump's $100K H-1B visa fee and orders DHS to complete proper rulemaking", 1 October 2026
- Ogletree Deakins, "Federal Court Issues New Order Blocking Agency Implementation of $100,000 H-1B Fee", retrieved 5 October 2026
- Forbes, Stuart Anderson, "Judge Strikes Down Latest Version Of $100,000 H-1B Immigration Fee", 1 October 2026
- SHRM, "$100K H-1B Fee Extended Through 2027", retrieved 5 October 2026
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas, "Job Cuts Fall in September; Hiring Plans Up 3% Over 2025", 1 October 2026
- Boundless, "New H-1B Order Targets Employers With Recent Layoffs", retrieved 5 October 2026
- EduConnect, "Duration of Status Rule Postponed: What October 2nd Means", retrieved 5 October 2026
- Pinterest careers, "University Grad Software Engineer 2027 (USA)", retrieved 5 October 2026
- Pinterest careers, "University Grad Software Engineer (Dublin)", retrieved 5 October 2026
- speedyapply, 2027 SWE College Jobs new-grad board, retrieved 5 October 2026
- Fragomen, "New Executive Order Directs Federal Agencies to Consider Layoff Activity ... in H-1B Adjudications", retrieved 5 October 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is the $100,000 H-1B fee still in effect?
- No. On 1 October 2026, US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction blocking Sections 1, 2 and 3(a) of the proclamation that imposed the $100,000 payment (JURIST, 1 October 2026). It is the second court to block the fee after a Massachusetts court vacated it in June 2026 and the First Circuit refused to lift that ruling on 24 July 2026. The proclamation itself was renewed through 21 September 2027 but is not being collected (SHRM, retrieved 5 October 2026).
- Is this the same as the $103,265 H-1B fee?
- No. The $100,000 payment comes from a presidential proclamation and applies to petitions for workers outside the US; that is what the court blocked. The separate $103,265 fee is a proposed DHS rule for cap-subject petitions whose comment period closed on 24 September 2026. The court order does not touch the proposed rule, and neither amount is being charged right now (Ogletree, retrieved 5 October 2026).
- Which new-grad roles opened this week?
- Pinterest posted its 2027 University Grad Software Engineer role in San Francisco and remote on about 1 October, for graduates finishing by June 2027 who can start between January and September 2027 (Pinterest careers, retrieved 5 October 2026). The speedyapply 2027 new-grad board also showed fresh Snap, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Amazon reqs added in the last two days. No new full-time quant reqs for undergraduates opened; the summer-2027 quant roles have been live since July and August.
- Did the duration of status rule take effect on 2 October?
- No. The 2 October 2026 hearing was a status conference about how the case proceeds, not a ruling on whether the rule is lawful (EduConnect, retrieved 5 October 2026). The rule that would replace duration of status with fixed admission periods remains postponed nationwide with no built-in expiration, under the Massachusetts order of 14 September 2026. F-1 and J-1 students keep their current status and should not file extra applications just to be safe.