En esta noticia

A federal court in Massachusetts halted one of the Trump administration’s most controversial immigration measures: the extraordinary $100,000 fee to process the H-1B visa, the main document that allows foreign professionals to work in the United States.

The ruling was signed by Judge Leo Sorokin, who determined that the fee lacked legal basis and violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Why the judge struck down the fee

Judge Sorokin’s main argument was that the fee operated like a tax, and taxes can only be authorized by Congress. Without that legislative backing, the charge was ruled unconstitutional.

The White House had defended the measure as a mechanism to limit the arrival of foreign workers and protect jobs for Americans, but the court rejected that argument.

With the ruling, the cost system returned to the previous structure: between $2,000 and $5,000 per application.

The impact of the overturned fee was already visible: by February, only 85 payments had been processed under that system, a sharp drop from previous years. The White House did not comment on the ruling, and at least two more lawsuits against the same fee remain active.

What the process for obtaining an H-1B visa now looks like

Although the extraordinary fee was struck down, the rest of the system, in force since September 2025, remains in place:

  • The registration process is entirely online
  • It opens every March
  • The selection period ends before the month is over.

Those who want to participate must pay $215 just to register. Only selected candidates can move on to the final process and pay the full administrative and processing fees.

The new framework also banned the same candidate from registering through multiple companies, with automatic disqualification for any attempt at duplication.

The annual cap remained at 40,000 visas for foreign professionals and an additional 25,000 for graduate degree holders.

What this means for companies and professionals

Official documents and reports from technology companies and universities warned that the high costs made it difficult to hire international talent in sectors such as technology, engineering, medicine, and law.