September 30, Kathmandu – A federal judge has temporarily blocked the $100,000 fee imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump on the new H-1B visa program for highly skilled foreign workers. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam of Oakland, California, ruled that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State failed to complete the necessary rulemaking procedures before implementing Trump’s fee.
Appointed by former President Barack Obama, Judge Gilliam ordered federal agencies not to enforce this fee until a final ruling is made on a case filed in October. Earlier in June, another federal judge in Boston had temporarily blocked the fee in a separate lawsuit filed by 20 states.
In August, the Department of Homeland Security had initiated a process to establish a permanent fee of approximately $103,000, which is expected to face legal challenges once finalized. However, that case includes different legal issues than the current lawsuits, focusing more broadly on the president’s authority to unilaterally set such fees.
Initially, this $100,000 fee was to expire on September 21, but President Trump, a Republican, extended it for another year. The White House has not made any public comment on this recent court decision. Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal advocacy group collaborating with plaintiffs in the case, welcomed the ruling in a statement. Senior attorney Steve Bresler said, “Today’s decision safeguards a system that was disrupted overnight.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobbying organization, has also filed a third lawsuit challenging this fee. The Chamber is appealing a judge’s decision that dismissed their claim that Trump lacked authority to impose the fee.
What is the H-1B Program? The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills in certain fields. Technology companies, in particular, heavily rely on workers under this visa category. The program issues 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees. Visa durations range from three to six years.
Trump’s directive drastically increased the cost of this visa, which previously ranged from approximately $2,000 to $5,000 depending on various factors. The fee hike was a major change.
In implementing the fee, Trump invoked presidential authority under federal immigration law to bar admission of certain foreign nationals deemed detrimental to U.S. interests. He argued that businesses were abusing the H-1B program to displace American workers in favor of cheaper foreign labor. Furthermore, the Trump administration proposed tightening screening processes for H-1B applicants and prioritizing higher-skilled workers receiving greater salaries in the new visa selection system.
