H-1B $100,000 Fee: Workers Seek Swift Ruling As Trump Admin Seeks Pause

WASHINGTON, DC – Employers and workers challenging the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions have urged a federal court in California to move towards a final ruling, while the government has sought to pause proceedings until an appeals court rules.

In a joint case management statement filed on October 20 in Global Nurse Force v. Trump, the plaintiffs said they “challenge the lawfulness of a $100,000 payment requirement as a condition of processing H-1B visa petitions and entry into the United States.”

On September 30, Judge Gilliam granted in part the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, denied the government’s motion to dismiss and denied class certification without prejudice.

The government appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on October 9 and sought a stay of the district court proceedings the same day. The stay motion is scheduled for a hearing on January 14, 2027, according to the filing.

The plaintiffs proposed that the government produce the administrative record by November 3. They also indicated they could seek enforcement of the court’s September 30 order if necessary.

“Plaintiffs are monitoring Defendants’ compliance with this Court’s September 30, 2026 order and may seek enforcement of the order if warranted,” the statement said.

The government argued that further proceedings before the appeals court rules would be premature, maintaining that “further motions practice is inappropriate while the Ninth Circuit considers threshold jurisdictional issues.”

It proposed that the administrative record be produced within 30 days of the appeals court’s mandate or within 30 days of any order denying the stay.

The government also cited a separate ruling in Massachusetts, arguing that the California case would not change the existing legal position because of a nationwide injunction issued by the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The filing also lists two other pending appeals concerning the fee: California v. Mullin in the First Circuit Court of Appeals and Chamber of Commerce v. DHS in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which heard arguments on March 9, 2026.

The main legal questions include whether President Donald Trump’s proclamation imposing the fee and its extensions exceed his legal authority, and whether the State Department’s and Department of Homeland Security’s actions to implement the measure violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

The plaintiffs are represented by several legal and advocacy organizations, including the Justice Action Center, Democracy Forward, the South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO) and the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. (IANS)