A U.S. federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump from imposing a $100,000 fee on employers filing visa applications for foreign highly-skilled workers. The United States awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year on a lottery system. India accounts for around three-quarters of the recipients. H-1B visa fees previously cost up to $5,000.
District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic-ruled states that the move usurped taxation powers held by Congress and the fee for the H-1B visas constituted an unlawful tax. “The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” Sorokin wrote in his 42-page ruling. “The President had no power or delegated authority to impose a tax on H-1B petitions,” he wrote.
A different federal judge upheld the $100,000 fee in December in a separate case. That ruling is currently being appealed. That lawsuit was brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business lobbying group, and the Association of American Universities, which represents 69 US-based research schools.
