The Trump administration is once again attempting to impose a fee of around $100,000 for the issuance of H-1B work visas for foreign specialists. This move follows the cancellation of a previous court ruling, according to Bloomberg, citing the relevant regulatory act.
In June, a federal court in Massachusetts blocked the $100,000 fee, ruling that it is a tax and requires Congressional approval. Later, an appeals court declined to suspend the enforcement of that ruling.
Now, authorities have proposed a fee of approximately $103,000 for each new H-1B visa candidate, the agency reports. Unlike the previous initiative, the new fee will apply to nearly all new visa recipients, including those already in the U.S.
The administration justified the measure by citing costs related to the visa program and immigration control. According to government estimates, the fee could generate about $8.8 billion in revenue to fund relevant agencies, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the immigration court system.
The fee will not apply to visa extensions, nor to certain employees of hospitals, non-profit organizations, and universities. Each year, 85,000 visas are issued to foreign specialists under the H-1B program for a period of three to six years.
Trump had established the fee for H-1B visa issuance in September 2025 to limit the excessive use of the program, Bloomberg reported. Following that, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and other tech companies advised employees with such visas not to leave the U.S.
