Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) A second US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its $100,000 fee on certain H-1B visa petitions, handing another legal setback to a policy with significant consequences for Indian professionals.
US District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California ruled that federal agencies failed to follow required rulemaking procedures when implementing the fee.
The ruling, issued Wednesday, prevents federal immigration agencies from enforcing policies implementing President Donald Trump's September 2025 proclamation imposing the payment, as well as its September 2026 extension, while the agencies comply with requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The case, Global Nurse Force et al. v. Trump et al., was brought by a coalition that includes health care providers, educational institutions, manufacturing companies, labour organisations and individual workers.
The court found that the plaintiffs had shown they were likely to succeed on their claim that the agencies violated federal administrative law by implementing the policy without going through required notice-and-comment rulemaking.
The ruling is particularly significant for Indians, who dominate the H-1B programme. US Citizenship and Immigration Services data show that 71 per cent of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal 2024 were for beneficiaries born in India. China was a distant second at about 12 per cent.
The USD 100,000 payment was introduced through a presidential proclamation on September 19, 2025.
Trump extended the requirement last month.
Gilliam's order bars the relevant agencies from enforcing or implementing policies issued under both the original proclamation and its extension.
The South Asian American Justice Collaborative, one of the organisations involved in the challenge, said Indians had been particularly affected by the policy.
“Indian nationals bore a disproportionate share of the harm from this USD 100,000 fee, which put employment opportunities and families’ futures at risk and left employers unable to afford the workers they needed,” said Kalpana V. Peddibhotla, executive director of the organisation.
The administration has argued that restrictions on the H-1B programme are needed to protect American workers and prevent misuse of the visa system.
The plaintiffs, however, challenged both the administration's authority to impose the payment and the process used by federal agencies to implement it.
Wednesday's decision does not mark the first time a federal court has stopped enforcement of the fee.
In June, US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts ruled in a separate challenge brought by 20 states that policies implementing the USD 100,000 payment violated federal law. The government appealed.
On July 24, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected the administration's request to stay that ruling while the appeal proceeds. The appeals court said the Massachusetts district court had vacated actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State to implement the presidential proclamation.
The H-1B programme allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations, typically jobs requiring specialised knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree. It is extensively used by technology, engineering, health care, research and other professional sectors.
Federal law generally makes 65,000 new H-1B visas available annually, with another 20,000 slots for eligible applicants holding advanced degrees from US institutions. Indian professionals have for years constituted the largest group of H-1B beneficiaries, making changes to the programme closely watched in India and among the Indian-American technology and professional community.
