Judge Gilliam suspends the $100,000 H-1B fee
A federal judge in California on Wednesday suspended the Trump administration's policy that required employers to pay $100,000 for each new H-1B visa petition. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that immigration agencies implemented the fee without following the procedures required by law. The judge partially granted a request for a preliminary injunction filed by several companies and organizations that challenged the legality of the charge, which President Donald Trump proclaimed in September 2025.[S1]
The ruling orders the policies through which the Department of Homeland Security and other authorities implemented the payment to be vacated and returned to the agencies. It also prohibits the agencies and those acting under their direction from continuing to apply the policies until they complete a notice-and-comment process under the Administrative Procedure Act. The magistrate concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to demonstrate that the agencies acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by failing to study alternatives or the interests of the affected entities before imposing the new requirement.[S2]
The judge also determined that the government failed to meet its obligation to subject these policies to a public participation process, given that without those agency rules the $100,000 charge could not be applied. Trump's proclamation, signed on September 19, 2025, established the additional $100,000 payment for new H-1B petitions and was extended by the president on September 18 until September 2027. The government justified the measure at the time as a response to the alleged systemic abuse of the visa program for specialized foreign workers.[S2]
The case thus faces conflicting judicial decisions: while a federal court in Washington confirmed in 2025 the president's authority to impose the charge, federal courts in Massachusetts and now California have suspended the policies used to apply it.[S2]
