Trump's $100,00 H-1B Visa Fee Remains Blocked, Federal Court Deems It Unlawful

A federal appeals court refused to halt a ruling blocking President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, finding the administration had not shown it was likely to succeed on appeal.

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s request to halt a judge’s order blocking the enforcement of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers hired from outside the United States.

The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay a June 8 ruling by a federal judge that struck down the fee in a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The lower court found that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax that Congress had never authorized.

The three-judge appeals panel said the Trump administration failed to demonstrate that it was likely to succeed on appeal in arguing that it had acted within its authority by imposing the fee.

US District Judge Leo Sorokin had ruled that the fee violated the Constitution’s separation of powers by exercising Congress’ exclusive authority to levy taxes. Although Sorokin temporarily paused his own order to allow the appeals court to consider the administration’s emergency request, the First Circuit ultimately declined to grant that stay.

In court filings, the Department of Justice argued that the fee was a lawful exercise of the president’s foreign commerce and immigration powers. The administration also contended that blocking the fee prevented President Donald Trump from addressing national security concerns tied to the H-1B visa program.

Trump announced the $100,000 fee in September, significantly increasing the cost of obtaining new H-1B visas. Before the change, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on various factors. The H-1B program issues 65,000 visas annually, along with an additional 20,000 visas for workers holding advanced degrees, with approvals generally lasting three to six years.

The president said the H-1B program had been exploited to replace American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor. The new fee did not apply to foreign nationals already in the United States on student visas, who make up a large share of new H-1B recipients. According to the filings, few employers have paid the fee since it took effect.

Separate legal challenges to the fee remain pending before the US District Court for the Northern District of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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