3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 26, 2026 06:32 AM IST
US President Donald Trump’s administration received a jolt from a federal appeals court after judges rejected its bid to revive a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The Trump administration had announced the steep hike in H-1B visa fees to discourage companies from hiring foreign workers over Americans. However, the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put on hold a lower court judge’s June 8 verdict, filed after a lawsuit by 20 Democratic states, ruling that the fee constituted an unlawful tax that Congress had never authorised.
US District Court Judge Leo Sorokin concluded that the executive branch exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
“The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” Judge Sorokin wrote.
What is the H-1B visa programme?
H-1B visas are meant for highly skilled workers in occupations where US employers struggle to find qualified American employees. The programme offers 65,000 visas annually, along with an additional 20,000 visas for applicants holding advanced US degrees. Successful applicants are typically granted visas valid for three to six years by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Before Trump’s proposed increase, employers sponsoring H-1B workers generally paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in government filing fees, depending on several factors.
Defending the fee hike, Trump had argued that the H-1B programme “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour.”
Who would have been affected?
The $100,000 fee would not have applied to foreign nationals already in the United States on student visas, who typically account for a large share of new H-1B recipients, according to Reuters.
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The policy, announced in September 2025, significantly reduced demand for new H-1B petitions, Bloomberg reported. Court filings showed that by mid-February, the USCIS had received very few payments under the new fee structure.
States welcome the ruling
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell welcomed the appeals court’s decision, calling it a victory for employers that rely on highly skilled foreign workers.
“Today’s victory protects the integrity of the H-1B visa program as a tool to address severe labor shortages in vital industries like education, healthcare, and medical research,” Campbell said.
She added that the ruling would help Massachusetts fill critical vacancies and continue hiring world-class faculty members and researchers at colleges and universities across the state.
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