A federal judge on Monday voided a Trump administration policy that imposed a $100,000 fee on employers filing H-1B visa petitions for skilled foreign workers, ruling that the charge constitutes an unlawful tax.
U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin in Massachusetts declared the September 2025 policy invalid in its entirety.
The 42-page opinion holds that the fee exceeds executive authority and intrudes on Congress’s exclusive constitutional power to levy taxes.
“The policy appeared to step on Congress’s ‘exclusive power’ to levy taxes,” Sorokin wrote.
He rejected the administration’s argument that the fee qualified as a “regulatory payment” rather than a tax, calling the distinction unsupported by evidence, statutes, or case law.
The rule, issued by presidential proclamation under the Immigration and Nationality Act, sharply increased costs for H-1B petitions. Standard filing fees for the program had previously run in the low thousands of dollars.
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The new charge applied to employers seeking to hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations, typically requiring at least a bachelor’s degree.
The Trump administration designed the fee to deter what it described as exploitation of the H-1B program. Officials argued companies used the visas to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labor.
The high fee, they said, would push employers to hire U.S. citizens for high-paying roles instead.
A coalition of roughly 20 Democratic-led states challenged the policy in court. The states contended that the fee would harm universities, hospitals, technology companies, and school systems facing shortages of skilled workers in STEM fields. California led the litigation.
Sorokin ruled that the administration imposed the fee without formal notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act.
He noted the absence of any opportunity for public input despite expected opposition from industries that rely on the program.
“This is mere ipse dixit,” Sorokin wrote of the government’s regulatory-payment claim. “Defendants offer no definition for what constitutes ‘a regulatory payment,’ cite no cases or statutes employing the term, and advance no reasoned argument explaining how this term encompasses something different than a tax or a penalty.”
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H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in positions that require specialized knowledge.
The program has long drawn criticism from labor groups and some lawmakers who contend it suppresses wages and displaces domestic workers, particularly in the technology sector.
Supporters, including many large tech firms, say the visas fill critical gaps where qualified American candidates are insufficient.
The ruling provides immediate relief to employers who faced dramatically higher costs under the policy. It forms part of a broader set of Trump administration actions aimed at tightening legal immigration channels, even in sectors reporting labor shortages.
The Department of Justice is expected to appeal the decision. Similar challenges to other immigration enforcement measures have produced mixed outcomes in federal courts, with some aspects upheld and others blocked.
The decision does not alter underlying statutory limits on H-1B visas or address separate regulatory changes to wage requirements and program oversight. Those measures remain subject to ongoing litigation and administrative review.
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