Thousands of skilled immigrants in the United States will breathe a sigh of relief after a federal court in Massachusetts's Boston on Monday struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fees and called it unlawful.
The order comes after another federal court in Washington DC, in December 2025, upheld the fee hike in a case brought by the US Chamber of Commerce.
At least three suits challenging the hike, including the one with the Boston court, had been filed after the Trump administration raised the one-time fees.
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What is the H-1B visa?
According to the US department of labor, the H-1B program applies to employers seeking to “hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability”.
A specialty occupation is one that requires the “application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent”.
{{/usCountry}}A specialty occupation is one that requires the “application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent”.
{{/usCountry}}The department of labor says that the intent of the H-1B provisions is to “help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the US workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States”.
The program has over the decades benefited technology giants. According to US government, Amazon.com, Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Apple are among the companies with the greatest number of e H-1B visa employees.
The H-1B program, allotted using a lottery system, offers around 65,000 visas annually along with another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, news agency Reuters reported. Once allotted, the visas last three to six years, but can be renewed.
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What was the $100,000 fee applied by Trump administration?
In September last year, US President Donald Trump hiked the fee for application of an H-1B visa from an average of $2,000 to $100,000. This fee was to be paid by employers who need to sponsor skilled immigrants for work in the US.
The move was meant to discourage companies from using the program that some in the Trump administration believe displaces American workers.
Last year’s decision wasn’t the first such move. In Trump’s first term as President, in 2017, he signed an order to scale up scrutiny of visa applications and detect any frauds.
According to news agencies, rejection rates for H1-B visas soared to 24% in 2018, compared to 5-8% under the Obama administration and 2-4% under the Joe Biden-led government.
Why the new ruling matters to Indians?
Indian immigrants constitute a large section of H-1B visa holders in the US.
Around 70% of H-1B visas were approved for Indian workers in 2024, followed by the Chinese, who were at a distant 11-12%, data by the US administration showed.
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The program was also considered the key reason for the “rise of Indian-Americans into the highest educated and highest earning group” in the US, a study titled ‘The Other One Percent’ noted.
What next?
While Monday’s ruling has been welcomed by immigrants and companies alike, it could be short-lived.
A White House spokesperson on Monday hinted that the order will be challenged in an appellate court. “The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it,” news agency PTI quoted White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers as saying.
"A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal," the spokesperson added.
Experts echoed similar concerns.
“All stakeholders connected with H-1B visas will heave a sigh of relief after the court order, but one wonders if this is truly the end of the matter,” Sanjeev Joshipura, executive director of non-profit Indiaspora, told PTI.
(With inputs from wires)