On 19 September last year, US President Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas filed on or after 21 September 2025. The administration justified this under sections of the same presidential powers used to restrict the entry of certain non-citizens during national emergencies.
The immigrant community immediately pushed back. The legal objection was fundamental: the president used entry-restriction authority to impose what was functionally a tax or a fee—something only Congress has the power to do. Courts agreed.
On 8 June this year, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down the $100,000 fee in California et al. v. Mullin. The court found that the administration lacked legal authority to impose the fee through a presidential proclamation.
Only 85 payments were made under the proclamation before it was blocked—a number that itself speaks to the chilling effect it had on H-1B filings. The government's request to stay the ruling pending appeal was denied.
Now, within weeks of the court's ruling, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, proposing a $103,265 fee for all H-1B visas through the formal notice-and-comment rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act.