US Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Bid to Reinstate $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Ruling upholds lower court decision that called the fee an unauthorised tax, dealing a setback to plans targeting skilled foreign workers
Staff WriterJul 28, 2026, 8:08 AMA federal appeals court has rejected an attempt by US President Donald Trump’s administration to suspend a lower court ruling that blocked the imposition of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined on Friday to put on hold a June 8 ruling by a lower court judge, who had struck down the fee in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The judge ruled that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax that Congress had never authorised.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court, comprising only appointees of Democratic presidents, said the Trump administration had failed to demonstrate that it was likely to succeed in proving that it had not exceeded its authority by introducing the fee.
President Trump issued a proclamation in September that significantly increased the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, a programme widely used by technology companies to hire skilled foreign workers.
The H-1B programme provides 65,000 visas annually, along with an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. These visas are generally approved for periods ranging from three to six years. Before the new fee was introduced, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in visa-related costs, depending on various factors.
Defending the higher fee, Trump said the H-1B programme had been “deliberately exploited” to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid and lower-skilled labour.
The new fee does not apply to foreign nationals already in the US on student visas, who account for a significant proportion of new H-1B recipients.
Only a small number of employers have paid the fee since it was introduced. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeals court decision.
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