Appeals court blocks Trump bid to revive USD 100,000 H-1B visa fee
The Boston-based First US
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the administration had not shown it was
likely to succeed in overturning a June decision that blocked the fee. A
three-judge panel said the government had failed to demonstrate it acted within
its legal authority when introducing the charge.
The legal challenge was
brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general, who argued the fee amounted
to a tax that Congress had never authorized. A federal judge agreed in June,
striking down the policy.
President Donald Trump
announced the fee increase in September, saying the H-1B program had been used
to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor. Before the proposal,
employers typically paid between USD 2,000 and USD 5,000 in application-related
fees, depending on the case.
The H-1B program issues
65,000 visas each year, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants
holding advanced degrees. The visas allow highly skilled foreign professionals
to work in the United States for three to six years and are widely used by
technology companies.
The proposed fee did not
apply to foreign graduates already in the US on student visas, who make up a
significant share of new H-1B recipients. Few employers have paid the fee since
it was introduced.
