President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter before signing executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on September 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
The Trump administration said Thursday it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications in its effort to hike the fee by tens of thousands of dollars.
The Justice Department filed the notice three days after U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston vacated the fee, ruling that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing what amounted to a tax without approval from Congress.
The decision was a blow to Trump’s effort to restrict the H-1B program which was created in 1990 and is heavily used by U.S. tech giants to bring in highly skilled workers from overseas. The program allows U.S. employers to seek government permission to hire nonimmigrant workers in specialty occupations for up to six years.
Sorokin found that “the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax,” and said Congress had not delegated that power to the executive branch.
Trump imposed the fee by proclamation last September, arguing the H-1B program was being abused and was replacing American workers.
Before his proclamation, H-1B visa fees had ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 per application.
Several companies, including Walmart, said that they would pause their participation in the H-1B program as a result of Trump’s proclamation.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
