A federal judge in Boston has struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to dramatically increase fees for H-1B work visas, ruling that the $100,000 charge constitutes an unauthorized tax imposed without congressional approval.
The decision blocks a policy that would have increased visa application fees from their previous range of $2,000 to $5,000 to more than $103,000 for each petition subject to the annual statutory cap. The Trump administration has announced its intention to appeal the ruling.
The Department of Homeland Security on Monday unveiled a proposed rule that would make permanent the unprecedented fee structure first imposed by presidential proclamation last year. The proposal calls for charging $103,265 as an additional fee for every H-1B petition subject to the annual cap, including petitions eligible for the advanced-degree exemption.
The H-1B program permits American employers to hire foreign workers with specialized training in technical fields. Congress has established an annual allocation of 65,000 such visas under the regular cap, with an additional 20,000 reserved for workers holding master’s degrees or higher from American institutions. These visas are generally granted for three-year periods and can typically be extended to a maximum of six years.
Industries that depend heavily on these work visas include technology, education, and research sectors.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Zach Kahler, the proposed fee is designed to recover costs incurred across the federal government to adjudicate, vet, and support lawful immigration programs. The collected funds would cover administrative expenses for actions carried out by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Department of Labor.
“The proposed H-1B fee is intended to recover the costs incurred across the federal government to adjudicate, vet, and support lawful immigration programs that otherwise must be funded by taxpayers,” Kahler stated in a news release.
The legal battle over the fee continues on multiple fronts. A federal judge blocked the temporary fee in June, barring the government from collecting the charges. That decision is currently under review by an appeals court. Simultaneously, a separate court is considering whether a challenge to the fee by a major business organization was properly dismissed.
The temporary fee increase is scheduled to expire next month, one year after its initial implementation. The proposed rule by the Department of Homeland Security was posted for public inspection Monday and is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Tuesday. If the rulemaking process proceeds without further legal intervention, the charge could be finalized by the end of the year.
The administration has positioned the fee increase as a measure to prioritize American workers while ensuring that foreign worker programs do not place financial burdens on taxpayers. Critics argue that the dramatic fee increase would effectively shut down the H-1B program and harm American competitiveness in global markets that depend on highly skilled technical workers.
The outcome of the pending appeals will determine whether the administration can proceed with its plan to fundamentally restructure the cost structure of America’s highly skilled worker visa program.
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