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A second court blocks Trump's $100,000 H-1B fee, a reprieve for Indian tech workers and U.S. hospitals
A federal judge in San Francisco vacated the rules used to collect the fee, including under its 2027 extension. Indians receive about half of new H-1B approvals.
A year after President Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, a second federal court has stopped the government from collecting it, a decision closely watched by Indian professionals, U.S. tech companies and hospitals that rely on foreign-trained nurses.
On Sept. 30, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California vacated the agency policies used to collect the payment, in a case brought by a coalition led by nurse staffing firm Global Nurse Force. The order applies to both the original September 2025 proclamation and Trump's Sept. 18 extension of the fee through Sept. 21, 2027.
What the judge found
Gilliam found the agencies skipped the required public comment process, did no analysis of the impact on small businesses, failed to consider alternatives, and ignored employers' reliance on the existing system. Because the ruling rests on the Administrative Procedure Act, it applies to the policies themselves, not just the plaintiffs.
The court did not strike down the proclamation or decide whether the president exceeded his authority. If agencies complete a formal rulemaking, or an appeals court reverses, collection could resume quickly. A federal court in Massachusetts vacated the same policies in June in a case brought by a coalition of states, and the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling. An appeal to the Ninth Circuit is expected.
The fee was never applied to existing H-1B holders or renewals. A separate proposed Homeland Security rule that would charge about $103,000 on certain cap-subject petitions is still pending.
Why it matters to Indian Americans
Indians received about half of all new H-1B approvals last fiscal year, around 57,000 visas, though that was down 28% from the year before. Many of today's Indian American families, from Silicon Valley to the Dallas suburbs and New Jersey, trace their start in the country to the H-1B program, and many current visa holders are waiting years for green cards because of per-country caps.
Major technology services firms including Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant are among the top H-1B users, and the clampdown has pushed them to send fewer workers to the U.S. The California case was brought by nurse staffing organizations, which recruit foreign-trained nurses to fill shortages at U.S. hospitals.
What happens now
Immigration attorneys say employers can, for now, file new petitions without the payment, but should prepare for the possibility that it returns. The court has scheduled a case management conference for Oct. 27.
The administration has said the fee is meant to curb misuse of the program and protect American workers' wages, an argument it is expected to press on appeal.