Overview
- U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin in Boston vacated the policy Monday, finding the $100,000 payment functioned as a tax that Congress never authorized.
- Sorokin also held that federal agencies flouted the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing guidance and fee instructions without the required notice-and-comment rulemaking.
- The White House said it will appeal the decision and may seek a stay, and the case joins other conflicting lower-court rulings that make appellate review likely.
- The fee had sharply raised costs for new H‑1B petitions from roughly $2,000–$5,000 to $100,000 and already deterred filings, with USCIS reporting just 85 payments as of Feb. 15.
- The ruling offers immediate relief to tech firms, universities, hospitals and prospective foreign workers—especially applicants from India—and could push the dispute to appeals courts or Congress for a lasting fix.