Appeals court keeps the $100k H-1B fee blocked, for now
The First Circuit refused to let the Trump administration reinstate its $100,000 H-1B filing fee while a coalition of states appeals a lower court ruling that struck the fee down.
A federal appeals court has left in place a ruling that voided the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, denying the government's request to reinstate the charge while its appeal moves forward.
The fee, announced by proclamation in September 2025, would have applied to H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the US. A district court in Boston vacated it in June, siding with a coalition of twenty states that argued the administration had overstepped by imposing what amounted to a tax without congressional authorization.
The appeals court agreed the government was unlikely to win on the merits, so the fee stays off the books for now, though the case is still working through the courts and could eventually reach the Supreme Court.
For founders hiring internationally, the practical upshot is a reprieve rather than certainty. Immigration attorneys are advising companies to keep contingency plans ready, since the legal status of the fee could still shift with little notice as the litigation continues.