A court has barred Trump from charging a $100 fee for an H-1B work visa.

A federal court has blocked President Donald Trump from imposing a $100 fee on employers seeking to hire foreign workers for highly skilled positions. The judge concluded that such a measure is essentially a "tax" that the president lacks the authority to impose without Congressional approval, according to Politico.

Federal District Court Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the fee requirement for H-1B visa applications, mandated by Trump's September 2025 executive order, violates the separation of powers. The requirement was implemented by the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security.

The ruling was a significant victory for the states that had challenged the order in court. They argued that the $100 fee had significantly hindered their ability to hire employees for public institutions, including universities and hospitals.

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Sorokin, appointed to his post under Barack Obama, relied on two US Supreme Court decisions. In the first, the court recognized a key provision of the Obamacare health care reform (requiring citizens to purchase health insurance) as a tax. In the second, issued recently, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's attempt to unilaterally impose global trade tariffs, holding that the president can impose taxes only with the express authorization of Congress.

It's the latest blow to Trump's economic agenda, which is facing hurdles in the courts and under pressure from the war with Iran.

The H-1B visa program, in its current form, has been in effect since 1990. It allows companies and organizations to recruit foreign specialists for highly skilled positions. No more than 85 of these visas are issued annually, 20 of which are for candidates with advanced degrees. The restrictions do not apply to higher education institutions and non-profit research organizations.

Trump and his supporters claim the program is being used to circumvent regulations, specifically to fire American workers and replace them with lower-paid foreign workers.

“Abuse of the H-1B program poses a threat to national security because it discourages Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology and jeopardizes U.S. leadership in these fields,” Trump’s order said.

Sorokin's ruling comes six months after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., sided with the Trump administration in a similar lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The court then concluded that Congress had granted the president the authority to impose such a levy. However, that ruling predated the Supreme Court's February ruling on trade tariffs, which influenced Sorokin's conclusions.

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"The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump has finally taken steps to fix it," said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers. "A federal court in Washington has already upheld a nearly identical order, and the administration is confident that the ruling will be overturned on appeal."

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