A coalition of 19 US state attorneys general, led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, has sued the Trump administration over a policy that imposes a USD 100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, calling the policy unlawful and damaging to employers facing critical labor shortages.
In a press release, Rayfield said the fee would create an insurmountable financial barrier for employers—particularly public-sector and government institutions—seeking to hire highly skilled foreign workers such as physicians, researchers, nurses, and educators. “Oregon’s colleges, universities and research institutions rely on skilled international workers to keep labs running, courses on track and innovation moving forward,” he said. “This enormous fee would make it nearly impossible for these institutions to hire the experts they need, and it goes far beyond what Congress ever intended.”
The lawsuit contends the Department of Homeland Security exceeded its authority by imposing a massive fee not authorized by Congress, bypassing required rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and granting the Secretary of Homeland Security broad discretion to decide which petitions are subject to the fee—raising concerns about selective enforcement.
Per a presidential proclamation issued September 19, a USD 100,000 fee now applies to new H-1B applications filed or entering the H-1B lottery after September 21. Current visa holders and petitions submitted before that date are unaffected. The proclamation requires the fee to accompany every new H-1B petition filed after the deadline, including those submitted for the 2026 lottery. The lawsuit directly challenges that proclamation.
Under the H-1B program, US employers may temporarily hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations that generally require at least a bachelor’s degree. Most private-sector H-1B visas are capped at 65,000 annually, with an additional 20,000 reserved for those holding a master’s degree or higher.
The attorneys general argue the USD 100,000 fee far exceeds typical H-1B filing costs—which generally range from USD 960 to USD 7,595—and is not tied to the actual cost of processing petitions as required by law. They also assert the administration failed to follow the APA’s notice-and-comment process and did not consider the policy’s full impacts, particularly on government and nonprofit entities.
Highlighting consequences for higher education, the suit notes Oregon State University sponsors over 150 H-1B faculty, researchers and staff, while the University of Oregon sponsors more than 50; both rely on the program to fill critical roles and could face vacancies that undermine education, research and public service missions.
Joining Oregon in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. (ANI)
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