Federal Judge Vacates Trump Administration’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

A federal judge has vacated the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee for H-1B visa petitions, a policy that increased costs for employers sponsoring foreign workers in specialized occupations.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston ruled that the fee constituted an unlawful tax imposed without congressional authorization. The decision vacated the September policy that raised H-1B petition costs from several thousand dollars to more than $100,000. The administration had issued the fee through a presidential proclamation, stating that the H-1B program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”

A coalition of 20 Democratic state attorneys general filed suit in December challenging the change. The administration defended the fee as a “penalty” authorized under the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict entry of foreign nationals whose presence would be detrimental to U.S. interests. Sorokin concluded the measure operated as a tax rather than a penalty and therefore required congressional approval. The ruling referenced the Supreme Court’s February decision striking down most of the administration’s tariffs on similar grounds. The administration did not obtain congressional authorization for the H-1B fee.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated that the administration plans to appeal. “President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” Rogers said.

The H-1B program authorizes 65,000 visas annually for workers with at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in specialized fields, plus an additional 20,000 visas for holders of advanced degrees. Each visa is valid for three years and may be extended once for an additional three years.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who co-led the coalition, said the ruling ended an “illegal attempt to destroy this critical program and the many jobs it makes possible.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that the fee would have hindered the ability to attract and retain high-skilled talent needed for workforce requirements.

The policy encountered several legal challenges. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pursuing an appeal after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in December that the administration possessed authority to impose the fee. A separate lawsuit filed in October by healthcare organizations, labor unions, and individual workers remains pending in federal court in California.

Before the policy took effect, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 per H-1B application. The higher fee did not apply to foreign nationals already present on student visas or current H-1B holders. Some employers withdrew offers or imposed hiring pauses while the policy’s scope was clarified. The administration later established exemptions for physicians and medical residents after healthcare employers reported potential staffing shortages in that sector. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recorded only 85 payments of the fee by mid-February, according to a March court filing.

The administration has modified the H-1B program through additional measures. In December it replaced the prior lottery system with a weighted selection process that assigns higher priority to petitions for higher-skilled and higher-paid positions. In September the administration initiated reviews of employer compliance with H-1B program requirements.