A federal court today struck down the $100,000 H-1B petition fee that President Trump imposed by proclamation in September 2025. The ruling is immediately effective and provides real relief, but it may be short-lived. The government is virtually certain to appeal, and could ask the court to put the fee back in place within days. Employers and employees who have been affected by the fee should act quickly, but with eyes open to the uncertainty that remains.
How We Got Here
In September 2025, President Trump signed a proclamation requiring employers to pay $100,000 to the government before filing an H-1B petition for a worker outside the United States. Before that proclamation, the total fees for an H-1B petition ranged from roughly $960 to $7,595 depending on the employer and case type. The $100,000 requirement was an extraordinary increase, one that led many employers to stop filing H-1B petitions altogether and left workers stranded overseas, unable to obtain visa stamps or return to the United States.
Several legal challenges followed. Three are worth knowing about:
- A federal court in Washington, D.C. sided with the government and upheld the fee. That decision is now on appeal.
- A federal court in California is still considering its own challenge, with no decision yet.
- Today, a federal court in Massachusetts ruled against the government and struck down the fee entirely. That is the subject of this alert.
What the Court Decided — And Why
The Massachusetts court ruled that the $100,000 payment is not a legitimate regulatory fee. It is a tax — and the President does not have the power to impose taxes on his own. That power belongs exclusively to Congress under the Constitution.
The government argued that broad immigration statutes give the President wide authority to impose “restrictions” on the entry of foreign workers, and that the $100,000 payment falls within that authority. The court rejected this argument. The power to restrict entry is real, but it does not include the power to tax. Those are different things, and Congress never clearly gave the President the authority to levy a tax in this context.
The court also found that the way the fee was put into effect violated federal administrative law. When agencies create rules that impose new legal obligations, as USCIS and the State Department did here by publishing memoranda, FAQs, and updated fee schedules to implement the proclamation, they are generally required to go through a public notice and comment process first. That process was skipped entirely. The court further found that the agencies never provided a reasoned explanation for the $100,000 figure, never considered the hardship imposed on employers and workers who had come to rely on the existing H-1B system, and never examined whether a lower amount or targeted exemptions might have been more appropriate.
As a result, the court declared the fee unlawful and vacated it in its entirety, meaning it is nullified as a matter of law, not just for the states that brought the lawsuit.
Why This Is Not the Final Word
Today’s ruling is a significant victory for employers and H-1B workers. But several important uncertainties remain.
An appeal is coming. The government will almost certainly appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and will likely ask that court to issue an emergency stay, meaning a temporary order putting the $100,000 fee back in place while the appeal proceeds. That request could come within days. If a stay is granted, the fee would be reinstated and employers would again be required to pay it for new filings.
The courts are not in agreement. The federal court in Washington, D.C. reached the opposite conclusion and upheld the fee. The California case is still undecided. This disagreement among courts is significant: it increases the likelihood that the issue will eventually reach the Supreme Court, and it gives the government a stronger basis to seek a stay while the appeals play out.
Today’s decision is well-reasoned. We want to be clear that the Massachusetts court’s analysis is thorough and legally sound. A reversal is not inevitable. But given the split among courts and the stakes involved, it would be premature to treat this as a settled matter.
What Employers Should Do Now
If you stopped filing H-1B petitions because of the $100,000 fee, now is the time to review those deferred cases with your immigration counsel. The fee is vacated as of today, and petitions that were previously uneconomical or impractical to file may now proceed at normal cost. The window of opportunity could close quickly if a stay is granted, so we encourage employers to begin this review immediately, but carefully.
Priority cases to identify:
- Employees currently outside the United States with approved H-1B petitions who have been unable to obtain visa stamps or return because their employer was unwilling to pay the fee. These individuals face the most personal urgency and should be addressed first.
- Petitions for workers outside the U.S. that were deferred due to the imposition of the fee.
- New H-1B petitions (for previously approved H-1B workers) in the pipeline that were placed on hold.
Do not overcommit based on today’s ruling alone. A government appeal and stay application could reinstate the fee with little notice. Employers should be prepared to adjust quickly if that happens, and should avoid making irreversible workforce planning decisions based solely on today’s outcome.
For Employers Who Have Already Paid the Fee
If your company paid the $100,000 fee for one or more H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025, today’s ruling raises an obvious question: can you get that money back?
The honest answer is: possibly, but not automatically, and not soon.
Today’s vacatur nullifies the legal authority for the fee going forward. It does not, by itself, create a refund obligation or mechanism. The government has not announced any process for returning fees already collected, and we do not expect it to do so voluntarily, particularly while an appeal is pending. Any path to recovery would most likely require either a separate legal proceeding, a government-initiated refund program, or potentially Congressional action.
That said, today’s ruling significantly strengthens the legal foundation for any future refund claim. The court’s clear and unambiguous holding that the fee was an unauthorized tax, imposed without legal authority and without following required procedures, is precisely the kind of finding that supports recovery of amounts wrongfully collected.
What you should do right now:
Preserve complete records of every payment made under the Proclamation. This means retaining payment confirmations, petition identifiers, payment dates, amounts paid, and the names of the beneficiaries involved. Thorough documentation will be essential if and when a refund mechanism becomes available.
We also recommend consulting with your immigration counsel about whether and how to pursue recovery. We will continue to monitor this issue closely, including how parallel proceedings in the D.C. Circuit and the California district court develop, and will update clients as the refund picture becomes clearer.
What H-1B Workers Should Know
If your employer put your H-1B petition on hold because of the $100,000 fee, contact your employer and its immigration counsel right away to discuss next steps. If you are currently outside the United States waiting to return, your case should be at the top of the priority list.
That said, the situation remains uncertain. Today’s ruling is meaningful and encouraging, but it does not guarantee that the fee will stay vacated through the end of the appeals process. Stay in close contact with your employer and immigration counsel, and be prepared for the possibility that circumstances could change quickly.
How Goel & Anderson Can Help
Goel & Anderson has been tracking all three legal challenges to the $100,000 H-1B fee since the proclamation was issued. We are ready to help corporate clients identify affected cases, set filing priorities, and move efficiently during this period of legal uncertainty.
If you have questions about how today’s ruling affects your company’s H-1B program or your individual situation, please contact us.
This client alert is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The legal landscape described in this alert is subject to rapid change. Please consult with qualified immigration counsel before taking action in reliance on this alert.
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