A US federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration's bid to reinstate a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, upholding a lower court order blocking the policy. The court said the administration had not shown it was likely to prove it had legal authority to impose the charge.
Washington, July 25, 2026: A US federal appeals court has refused to let President Donald Trump's administration enforce a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, dealing another setback to the government's immigration policy.
The Boston-based First US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's decision that blocked the fee. The three-judge panel ruled that the administration had not shown it was likely to succeed in proving that it had the authority to impose the charge, allowing the earlier order to remain in effect.
Court Questions Legal Authority
The appeals court's decision follows a June ruling by a lower court judge, who struck down the fee after a lawsuit was filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The judge found that the charge amounted to an unlawful tax that had never been authorised by Congress.
