Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Dealt New Court Blow: What It Means
Newsweek · C · trust 59/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A federal appeals court has handed the Trump administration another setback in its effort to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas , leaving employers and foreign workers operating under the program's previous cost structure—for now.
The Boston-based First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the administration's request to pause a lower-court ruling striking down the fee, finding that the government had not shown it was likely to succeed on appeal in defending the policy.
It means the fee remains blocked immediately, preserving the existing H-1B cost structure for employers and foreign workers.
The decision is significant for companies that depend on highly skilled foreign talent and for prospective H-1B workers overseas who faced the prospect of a dramatic increase in the cost of obtaining a visa .
Technology companies, healthcare organizations, universities, and other employers that sponsor H-1B workers, as well as foreign professionals seeking new visas from abroad, are directly affected.
Newsweek contacted the White House via email for comment outside of regular working hours on Saturday morning.
The legal fight centers on whether a president can impose a charge of this size without explicit approval from Congress.
A federal judge concluded the payment functioned more like a tax than an administrative fee, and the appeals court has now signaled that the administration faces an uphill battle defending the measure.
The First Circuit declined to stay a June 8 ruling that blocked the fee after a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general.
The three-judge panel said the administration had not shown it was likely to ultimately prevail in arguing that it acted within its authority.
That is an important procedural ruling. The appeals court did not issue a final decision on the entire case, but it refused to let the government begin collecting the fee while the appeal moves forward.
In practical terms, that means the administration cannot currently require employers to pay the additional $100,000 charge for affected H-1B applications.
For employers, the ruling preserves the status quo.
Before Trump's proclamation, businesses sponsoring H-1B workers generally paid between about $2,000 and $5,000 in visa-related fees, depending on factors such as company size and the specific filing involved.
The $100,000 fee represented a massive departure from that structure.
Immigration attorneys and business groups had warned that such a dramatic increase could make many overseas hires financially unrealistic, particularly for smaller employers, startups and research organizations.
Because the fee remains blocked, companies do not need to budget for that extra cost today.
The ruling also removes a layer of uncertainty that had surrounded H-1B hiring plans since the policy was announced.
For foreign professionals seeking H-1B sponsorship, the decision means there is currently no $100,000 fee attached to new affected visa applications.
As a result, the system largely remains as it operated before Trump's September proclamation.
Applicants whose prospective employers may have reconsidered sponsorship because of the increased cost could benefit if companies once again view those hires as economically viable.
Notably, the fee did not apply to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas—an important category because former international students make up a large share of new H-1B recipients each year.
Trump announced the fee last September , arguing that the H-1B program had been used to replace American workers rather than supplement the domestic workforce.
His administration framed the measure as part of a broader effort to reshape legal immigration programs and encourage employers to prioritize U.S. workers.
Democratic-led states quickly challenged the policy in court, arguing that the executive branch lacked authority to impose such a substantial financial burden without congressional approval.
On June 8, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin agreed, concluding that the charge was effectively a tax and therefore could not be imposed solely through presidential action.
The appeals court's latest ruling leaves that decision intact for now.
The appeals court's decision was not the final ruling in the underlying appeal. The administration can continue litigating the case before the First Circuit, which will eventually consider the broader legal questions surrounding the fee.
If the administration ultimately loses there, it could petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
However, the Supreme Court is not required to take it.
In other words, Friday's decision does not automatically send the dispute to the nation's highest court. Instead, it represents another legal defeat along the way.
Still, because the case raises questions about presidential authority, taxation and immigration policy , it could become the type of dispute that eventually attracts Supreme Court attention, particularly if other courts reach different conclusions on similar issues.
The Trump administration's appeal remains active, and the legal battle is far from over.
For now, though, employers and applicants can operate under the assumption that the $100,000 fee is not in effect.
That means companies seeking highly skilled foreign workers continue to face visa costs broadly similar to those that existed before Trump announced the policy, while courts determine whether the administration had the authority to make such a sweeping change without Congress.
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