A federal appeals court has refused to let the Trump administration enforce a proposed $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas while the legal challenge continues.
A U.S. federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s request to restore a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The Boston-based First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause a lower-court ruling that blocked the policy. The decision means the fee cannot be collected while the government continues its appeal.
The proposed charge, announced in September 2025, would have dramatically increased the cost of sponsoring certain new H-1B workers. Employers typically pay several thousand dollars in government filing fees and related costs for an H-1B petition; the new fee would have added $100,000.
In June, U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin struck down the policy after a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The court concluded that the charge amounted to a tax that Congress had not authorized the president to impose.
The administration asked the appeals court to put that ruling on hold during the appeal. But the three-judge panel said the government had not shown it was likely to succeed in proving it acted within its authority.
For now, the outcome preserves the lower court’s order and leaves the $100,000 fee unenforceable.
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations, including technology, engineering, healthcare, and research. The program issues up to 65,000 visas annually, plus 20,000 additional visas for people with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
The appeals court’s decision does not end the case. The Trump administration may continue pursuing the appeal, and the dispute could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. But unless a later ruling changes the outcome, employers seeking new H-1B visas will not face the proposed $100,000 charge.
Source: Reuters, July 24, 2026.
