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WASHINGTON: A United States federal judge has blocked a controversial Trump administration rule that would have required a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B visa application, it emerged on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump had ordered the annual fee be added to H-1B skilled worker visas in September 2025.
H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills — such as scientists, engineers, and computer programmers — to work in the US, initially for three years, but extendable to six years.
Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the charge was effectively a tax, and therefore illegal because only the US Congress has the authority to create new taxes.
