Key facts
- A federal judge ruled a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas unlawful.
- The fee was imposed by former President Donald Trump.
- The ruling stated the fee was an unlawful tax not authorized by Congress.
A federal judge has struck down a $100,000 fee imposed by former President Donald Trump on new H-1B visas, ruling it an unlawful tax not authorized by Congress. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general.
The ruling invalidates a significant fee increase that impacted the hiring of skilled foreign workers, potentially affecting technology companies and the broader U.S. labor market.
A federal judge in Boston has declared unlawful a $100,000 fee that former U.S. President Donald Trump had imposed on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued the ruling, stating that the fee constituted an unlawful tax that Congress never authorized. The decision came in response to a lawsuit initiated by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. They challenged the fee, which Trump had announced in September, significantly increasing the cost associated with obtaining H-1B visas. The administration had argued the fee was a monetary penalty the president had authority to impose, but Sorokin concluded it was a tax for which the Republican president lacked authorization. The H-1B program typically offers 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees. Employers seeking a visa for a foreign worker before Trump's proclamation typically paid about $2,000 to $5,000 in fees. The increase in fees discouraged requests, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services having received only 85 payments of the $100,000 fee as of February 15.