TL;DR by CuriousCats.ai
Court blocks Trump's H-1B visa fee again
- US appeals court has declined to pause a lower court ruling that blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee.
- A three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s request to stay a June 8, 2026 order by US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin, who ruled that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax because Congress had never authorised the executive branch to impose it.
- The latest appeals court order ensures that the lower court’s ruling remains in effect while the legal challenge proceeds, meaning the administration cannot enforce the $100,000 fee unless it ultimately prevails on appeal.
- The Trump administration failed to show it was likely on appeal to succeed in showing it had not exceeded its authority by imposing the fee.
Background on H-1B visa fee controversy
- President Donald Trump announced the $100,000 H-1B visa fee through a presidential proclamation in September 2025, arguing that the programme had been exploited by employers to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labour.
- The H-1B visa allows US employers to hire highly skilled foreign professionals in specialised occupations, particularly in the technology sector.
- Before the proposed fee hike, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in government filing fees to sponsor an H-1B worker.
CuriousCats Full Story
Key Insight
“The First Circuit panel ruled that the Trump administration failed to show it likely had authority; the lawsuit was filed by 20 Democratic-led states challenging the fee as an unlawful tax not approved by Congress.”
CuriousCats studied:
1
Moneycontrol.com
“A three-judge panel of the Boston-based First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s request to stay a June 8, 2026 order by US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin, who ruled that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax because Congress had never authorised the executive branch to impose it.”
Moneycontrol.com →2
Telegraph India
“A US federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Donald Trump administration's request to revive its controversial $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, leaving in place a lower court ruling that struck down the charge as an unlawful tax not authorised by Congress.”
Telegraph India →Ask CuriousCats
What was Trump's proposed H-1B visa fee?
Who filed the lawsuit against the fee?
Why did the court block the fee again?
Are other visa fee proposals facing similar challenges?
How does this ruling compare to previous cases?
