An article fromDive Brief Trump administration appeals ruling against $100K H-1B visa fee

The fee has caused concern among higher education experts that it would hamper colleges’ ability to recruit foreign scholars and instructors.

Published June 11, 2026Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor

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Getty Images Dive Brief: 

• The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order to strike down a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, a federal program that allows employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers on a temporary basis, per court documents filed Thursday. 
• The notice of appeal comes just days after the federal judge ruled that the fee amounted to an unlawful tax that President Donald Trump didn’t have the authority to impose. 
• When the ruling was handed down on Monday, a White House spokesperson said the Trump administration was “confident this order will be reversed on appeal.”

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Trump signed a proclamation setting the $100,000 fee in September, drawing concern from colleges that rely on the program to recruit foreign researchers and instructors. Under the program, colleges and other employers can hire foreign workers for specialized jobs, typically for up to six years. 

When defending the fee in court, the Trump administration pointed to the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president power to impose restrictions on noncitizens entering the U.S. Federal officials argued that the $100,000 payment was a “regulatory payment” authorized by that statute. 

However, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin disagreed when he vacated the policy. “The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” Sorokin wrote in his June 8 ruling.

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