Washington: Twenty US states have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, arguing that the move is unlawful and poses a serious threat to essential public services.
The lawsuit targets a policy introduced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that dramatically increases the cost for employers seeking to hire high-skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa programme. The programme is widely used by hospitals, universities and public schools.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the case, said the administration does not have the legal authority to impose such a fee.
“As the world’s fourth largest economy, California knows that when skilled talent from around the world joins our workforce, it drives our state forward,” Bonta said.
“President Trump’s illegal $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates unnecessary — and illegal — financial burdens on California public employers and other providers of vital services, worsening labour shortages in key sectors,” he added.
President Donald Trump ordered the fee through a proclamation issued on September 19, 2025. DHS applied the policy to H-1B petitions filed after September 21 and granted the Secretary of Homeland Security discretion to decide which applications are subject to the fee or qualify for exemptions.
The states argue that the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the US Constitution by bypassing mandatory rulemaking procedures and exceeding the authority granted by Congress. They point out that fees associated with the H-1B programme have historically been limited to covering the cost of administering the system.
At present, employers filing initial H-1B petitions pay between $960 and $7,595 in combined regulatory and statutory fees.
Under federal law, employers must certify that hiring H-1B workers will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of US workers. Congress caps most private-sector H-1B visas at 65,000 per year, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants holding advanced degrees. Government and non-profit employers, including schools, universities and hospitals, are generally exempt from the cap.
The attorneys general contend that the new fee would further worsen staffing shortages, particularly in education and healthcare.
During the 2024–2025 school year, 74 per cent of US school districts reported difficulty filling vacant positions, especially in special education, physical sciences, English as a Second Language or bilingual education, and foreign languages. Educators constitute the third-largest occupational group among H-1B visa holders.
Healthcare providers also rely heavily on the programme. Nearly 17,000 H-1B visas were issued for medicine and health-related occupations in fiscal year 2024, with about half going to physicians and surgeons. The United States is projected to face a shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036.
The lawsuit was filed by Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, along with attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
The H-1B programme remains a crucial pathway for skilled foreign workers, including large numbers of Indian professionals employed in technology, healthcare and academic research.
With IANS inputs