OAKLAND, California — 1 Oct 2026, A second federal judge on Wednesday blocked an unprecedented US$100,000 fee imposed by President Donald Trump on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland ruled that US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the State Department had failed to follow required rule-making procedures before implementing the fee.
Gilliam, appointed by former President Barack Obama, granted a request by a coalition of unions, employers and nonprofit groups to bar the agencies from enforcing the fee while a lawsuit filed in October proceeds.
The fee was temporarily blocked in June by a federal judge in Boston in a separate case brought by 20 states. A Boston-based appeals court declined in July to pause that ruling.
The Department of Homeland Security moved in August to establish a permanent fee of about US$103,000. Once finalised, it is likely to face legal challenges, though those would raise different questions from the current lawsuits, which focus on whether Trump had authority to impose the fee unilaterally.
The US$100,000 fee had been due to expire on 21 September, but Trump recently extended it for another year.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal group representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling.
“Today’s decision protects a system that was thrown into chaos overnight,” said Steve Bressler, a lawyer for the group.
The US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobbying group, has filed a third lawsuit challenging the fee. It is appealing a ruling rejecting its argument that Trump lacked authority to impose it.
The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers trained in specialised fields and is heavily used by technology companies. It provides 65,000 visas a year, plus 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees. Visas are generally approved for three to six years.
Before Trump’s order, H-1B visa fees typically ranged from US$2,000 to US$5,000, depending on the application.
Trump invoked presidential powers under federal immigration law, arguing that companies had abused the programme by replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labour. His administration has also ordered tougher screening of H-1B applicants and proposed a selection process favouring higher-skilled and better-paid workers.