A federal judge has struck down Trump’s $100K H-1B visa fee, giving relief to millions of skilled workers applying to work in the US

In a ruling that reverberated from Silicon Valley to Bengaluru, a federal judge in Boston’s District Court for Massachusetts vacated President Trump’s September 2025 Presidential Proclamation that had imposed a staggering $100,000 fee on every new H-1B visa petition. The verdict was unambiguous: the President had imposed a tax without Congress’s consent, and that is simply unconstitutional.

The fee was framed by the administration as a guardian of the American worker. Trump himself argued the steep price tag would ensure only the “truly extraordinary” would qualify. The logic was seductive in its simplicity: make it expensive, and only the best will try. But the........

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