Federal Judge Leo Sorokin Voids Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee In Boston

A federal judge in Boston voided President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling it unlawful because it was a tax imposed without authorization from Congress.

“A United States federal judge has struck down the $100,000 fee that U”

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U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said, "there are no statutory powers authorizing [the Trump administration] to implement a $100,000 tax on H-1B petitions," in a 42-page decision.

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The ruling came after Sorokin invalidated the policy in favor of a group of 20 states that challenged the new fee in September, and the judge ordered the required visa payment to be set aside in its entirety under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The policy had been implemented through a presidential proclamation, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services applying the $100,000 fee to new applications filed on or after Sept. 21, while clarifying it would not apply to renewals.

The H-1B program, created by Congress in 1990, allows U.S.-based companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in a specialty occupation for up to six years, with Congress capping the number of H-1B visas at 65,000 per year and adding 20,000 for people with advanced degrees.

The Trump administration said it would appeal, and the Department of Homeland Security called Sorokin’s decision "blatant judicial activism" while defending the immigration reforms.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CNBC, "President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America's best interests, and that is exactly what he did."

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New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose state is one of 20 that brought the suit, said the court put an end to the administration’s "illegal attempt to destroy this critical program and the many jobs it makes possible."

Sorokin’s reasoning, as described by CNBC, matched the states’ argument that the "substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax," and that Congress had not delegated that power to the executive branch.

The dispute is tied to how the fee was framed and applied, with CNBC noting that the Homeland Security Department is a defendant and that the H-1B policy was implemented last September via presidential proclamation.

The ruling creates a reprieve for sectors that rely on H-1B visas, with The Guardian saying the decision hands "a significant reprieve to Silicon Valley" and noting that Amazon had more than 10,000 H-1B visas approved in the first half of 2025.

The Guardian also reported that Microsoft and Meta each exceeded 5,000, while Reuters contributed reporting on the broader stakes for the program that permits employers to hire skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations for up to six years.

In the same case, the Washington Post said Sorokin found Trump unilaterally imposed an illegal tax and failed to consider the impact on sectors experiencing labor shortages that rely on the program to hire physicians, nurses and teachers.

Court filings cited by NBC News said the increase in fees discouraged H-1B visa requests, and as of Feb. 15 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had received just 85 payments of the $100,000 fee.

NBC News also described the program’s structure as offering 65,000 visas annually plus another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, and said employers seeking a visa before Trump’s proclamation typically paid about $2,000 to $5,000 in fees depending on factors.