The 1st Circuit declined to pause a lower court ruling that blocked the $100,000 fee, saying the charge amounted to a tax requiring congressional approval.
A federal appeals court on Friday refused to revive President Donald Trump's $100,000 fee on new H-1B work visas, leaving in place a lower court block that has sharply reduced demand for the program.
The Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause a June ruling by US District Judge Leo Sorokin while the government appeals. A three-judge panel said the administration failed to show it was likely to succeed in arguing that Trump had the authority to impose the charge.
Sorokin had ruled that the $100,000 payment amounted to a tax, not a fee, and therefore required congressional authorization. "Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called," he wrote.
Trump announced the fee in September 2025 as part of a broader immigration crackdown. He said at the time the H-1B program "has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor."
The H-1B program issues roughly 65,000 visas each year, plus another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees. Technology companies, including Apple (AAPL), rely on the program to recruit overseas talent. Before Trump's policy, employers typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in visa-related fees.
Court filings show the steep increase has sharply reduced demand. By mid-February, US Citizenship and Immigration Services had received few payments of the new fee, according to the filings.
Brian Hunt, an immigration policy compliance lawyer with Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, told Business Insider the decision's impact is unclear because most US employers hire H-1B workers already in the country. "In light of the 100k fee, there are some workers who were about to lose their job offer but can now get a visa after all," Hunt said.
The lawsuit challenging the fee was brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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