Washington, United States – Web Desk:
A U.S. federal court has struck down a policy introduced by President Donald Trump that imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the measure was unlawful, stating that the administration had exceeded its authority by implementing the policy without congressional approval.
The contested policy, announced in September, was challenged by 20 U.S. states, including California, which argued that the fee was unconstitutional and placed an excessive burden on employers and foreign professionals.
In a 42-page ruling, the judge said that regardless of how the fee was described, it functioned as a tax, and the administration had no legal authority to impose such a charge on H-1B visa applicants without approval from Congress.
The Department of Homeland Security criticized the decision, describing it as judicial activism.
The H-1B visa program, established by Congress in 1990, allows U.S. companies to hire foreign professionals in specialized fields for temporary employment, typically up to six years. The program currently caps annual visas at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants with advanced degrees.
Standard employer fees for H-1B applications generally range between $1,700 and $4,500, but the Trump administration had proposed increasing this to $100,000 under the disputed policy.
