Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee is unlawful, U.S. judge rules

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Representative image. File

Representative image. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

A national justice connected Monday (June 8, 2026) struck down a $100,000 ​fee that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed ‌on caller H-1B visas for highly skilled ​foreign workers, concluding that it constituted ⁠an unlawful taxation that Congress ne'er authorised.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin successful Boston issued the ruling successful ‌a suit filed by 20 Democratic authorities attorneys wide challenging a interest Mr. Trump ‌announced successful September that dramatically raised ‌the ⁠cost of obtaining H-1B visas.

The Hindu’s sum connected U.S. enactment migration visa interest hike and its impact

The H-1B ⁠program offers 65,000 visas annually, with different 20,000 visas for workers with precocious degrees, approved for 3 to ​six years. Employers seeking ‌a visa for a overseas idiosyncratic earlier Mr. Trump’s proclamation typically paid astir $2,000 to $5,000 successful fees depending connected assorted factors.

The summation successful ‌fees has discouraged H-1B visa requests, according ​to tribunal filings. As of February 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ⁠had received conscionable 85 payments of the $100,000 fee, the medication said successful a March ‌filing.

The medication argued that the interest constituted a monetary punishment that the President had lawful authorization to enforce nether national migration instrumentality to restrict the introduction of definite overseas nationals. But Mr. Sorokin, who was appointed by ‌Democratic President Barack Obama, concluded that the interest was ​not a punishment but a taxation that the Republican President lacked immoderate ⁠authorisation from Congress to issue. “Here, the substance and exertion ⁠of the $100,000 outgo uncover that it is simply a tax, careless of what ‌the outgo is called,” helium wrote. The White House did not instantly respond to a ​request for comment. 

Published - June 09, 2026 12:05 americium IST

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