Trump’s $129,000 fee for H-1B worker visas challenged in lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO - A coalition of unions, employers and religious groups filed a lawsuit on Oct 3 seeking to block US President Donald Trump’s bid to impose

a US$100,000 (S$129,000) fee on new H-1B visas

for highly skilled foreign workers.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco is the first to challenge a proclamation Mr Trump issued two weeks ago announcing the fee as the Republican President moves to further restrict immigration to the United States.

Plaintiffs include the United Auto Workers union, the American Association of University Professors, a nurse recruitment agency and several religious organisations. They argued that Mr Trump’s power to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that Mr Trump’s administration engaged in lawful actions “discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas”.

The programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers in speciality fields; technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas.

Critics of H-1Bs and other work visa programmes say they are often used to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour. But business groups and major companies have said H-1Bs are a critical means to address a shortage of qualified American workers.

Employers who sponsor H-1B workers currently typically pay between US$2,000 and US$5,000 in fees, depending on the size of the company and other factors.

Mr Trump’s order bars new H-1B recipients from entering the US unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional US$100,000 payment. The administration has said that the order does not apply to people who already hold H-1B visas or those who submitted their applications before Sept 21.

Mr Trump in his unprecedented order invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to the interests of the US.

He said that high numbers of lower-wage workers in the H-1B programme have undercut its integrity and that the programme discourages Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology.

He said the “large-scale replacement of American workers” through the H-1B programme threatens the country’s economic and national security.

The plaintiffs argue that Mr Trump has no authority to alter a comprehensive statutory scheme governing the visa programme and cannot under the US Constitution unilaterally impose fees, taxes or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the US, saying that power is reserved for Congress.

“The Proclamation transforms the H-1B programme into one where employers must either ‘pay to play’ or seek a ‘national interest’ exemption, which will be doled out at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, a system that opens the door to selective enforcement and corruption,” the lawsuit said.

The groups argue that government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and State Department likewise adopted new policies to implement Mr Trump’s proclamation without following necessary rule-making processes and without considering how “extorting exorbitant fees will stifle innovation”.

The H-1B programme offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialised fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. The visas are approved for a period of three to six years.

India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas in 2024, accounting for 71 per cent of approved visas, while China was a distant second at 11.7 per cent, according to government data. REUTERS