Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Administration's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Hike

A federal judge in Boston on Monday struck down the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, a policy that had sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges. U.S.

District Court Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the executive branch exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies develop and issue regulations. The judge wrote, "The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress." The administration had announced the fee hike as a measure to prevent foreign workers from taking American jobs, but Sorokin sided with 20 states that argued the policy was unlawful.

The H-1B visa program is designed for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to fill with American workers. Deep-pocketed technology companies are the largest users, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.

The states argued that the higher fee made it even harder to hire needed doctors and teachers. Most H-1B visa applications cost several thousand dollars before the announced increase, which set off a wave of panic among employers, students, and workers both in the United States and abroad.

Several lawsuits were filed, including one in Boston and another by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in federal court in Washington, D.C.

The Chamber's appeal of a denial of summary judgment left the higher fee in effect until September 2026, when it was scheduled to expire. Monday's ruling, also a summary judgment, contradicts an earlier federal court decision that upheld the fee hike.

Another lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco by religious groups and labor organizations, raising the possibility of divided rulings in three appellate court circuits. The states argued that the policy impedes their ability to hire educators for primary and secondary schools, staff public colleges and universities, stymie academic research, and lead to a decline in medical workers.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs wrote, "The Proclamation makes various overtures to domestic economic policy goals to justify the unprecedented $100,000 fee. But the Proclamation gives no indication that the President gave any consideration to how the fee would affect Plaintiff States and their ability to provide their residents access to education, healthcare, and other basic human needs." A Department of Homeland Security statement expressed disagreement with "this blatant judicial activism dismantling President Trump's historic efforts for immigration reform," adding that under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, the immigration system is being reformed to serve American citizens and workers, not to "rapidly import foreigners who take American jobs, commit crimes, burden our welfare system, and erode our cultural and social fabric."