A court has ruled unlawful a $100,000 fee introduced by Donald Trump’s administration for processing H-1B work visas.
The judge concluded that such a payment is, in essence, a tax. The president, the ruling said, lacked the authority to impose it without congressional approval.
The lawsuit against the new fee was filed by the attorneys general of 20 Democratic-controlled states.
The H-1B program allows 65,000 work visas to be issued each year, along with another 20,000 visas for specialists with advanced degrees. Such visas are valid for three to six years. Before the new charge was introduced, employers typically spent between $2,000 and $5,000 to process a single visa—depending on the circumstances of the case.
According to case materials, the sharp increase in cost led to a noticeable decline in applications. As of February 15, only 85 payments had been made under the new $100,000 rate.
The Trump administration argued that the payment was not a tax but a financial penalty that the president had the authority to use to restrict the entry of certain categories of foreign nationals.
The court, however, disagreed and ruled that the nature of the payment corresponded to a tax rather than a penalty.
“The substance and operation of the $100,000 payment show that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” the court’s ruling said, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters.