Lawsuit seeks to stop Trump's $100,000 fee for H-1B visas
[October 04, 2025] By
MARTHA BELLISLE
SEATTLE (AP) — In what appears to be the first major challenge to the
new $100,000 fee required for H-1B visa applications, a coalition of
health care providers, religious groups, university professors and
others filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop the plan, saying it has
“thrown employers, workers and federal agencies into chaos.”
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Sept. 19 requiring the
new fee, saying the H-1B visa program “has been deliberately exploited
to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid,
lower-skilled labor.” The changes were slated to go into effect in 36
hours, which caused panic for employers, who instructed their workers to
return to the U.S. immediately.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said the
H-1B program is a critical pathway to hiring healthcare workers and
educators. It drives innovation and economic growth in the U.S., and
allows employers to fill jobs in specialized fields, the lawsuit said.
“Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose
pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the
country risk losing key innovators,” Democracy Forward Foundation and
Justice Action Center said in a press release. “The suit asks the court
to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers
and workers.”
They called the new fee “Trump's latest anti-immigration power grab.”
Messages seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security and
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which are named as defendants along
with Trump and the State Department, were not immediately returned.
The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to attract high-skilled
workers to fill jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. About a
third of H-1B workers are nurses, teachers, physicians, scholars,
priests and pastors, according to the lawsuit.
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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House
before signing an executive order regarding childhood cancer and the
use of AI, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon)
 Critics say the program is a
pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as
little as $60,000 annually, well below the $100,000-plus salaries
typically paid to U.S. technology workers.
Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out through a lottery. This
year, Seattle-based Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B
visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy,
Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the
highest number of H-1B workers.
The $100,000 fee will discourage the best and brightest minds from
bringing life-saving research to the U.S., said Todd Wolfson,
president of the American Association of University Professors.
Mike Miller, Region 6 Director of the United Automobile, Aerospace
and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, said Trump's plan
“prioritizes wealth and connections over scientific acumen and
diligence."
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, contends the
“exorbitant fee” invites corruption and is illegal. Congress created
the program and Trump can't rewrite it overnight or levy new taxes
by executive order, the groups said.
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