RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The Straits Times — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 4 sourcesA proposed rule by the US Department of Homeland Security would make a fee of US$103,265 permanent.
Listen Summarise The Trump administration proposes a permanent US$103,265 fee for new H-1B visas, drastically increasing costs from the previous US$2,000–5,000 range. The fee faces legal challenges arguing it exceeds presidential authority and lacks Congressional approval, with courts currently reviewing these disputes. H-1B visa applications dropped significantly under Trump, amid enhanced vetting and new rules favouring higher-skilled, better-paid foreign workers. AI generated
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s administration on Aug 24 released a proposed regulation to codify an unprecedented fee of more than US$100,000 (S$127,000) on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers that has been blocked by the courts.
The fee, first temporarily imposed by Trump in 2025, dramatically raises the cost of visas that are heavily relied on in the tech, education and research sectors.
A federal judge in June ruled that the fee was illegal and blocked the Trump administration from collecting it.
A Boston-based appeals court is reviewing that decision while a different court considers whether a judge properly rejected a challenge to the fee by a major business group.
Trump’s temporary fee increase expires in September, one year after it was issued. The proposed rule by the US Department of Homeland Security, posted in the Federal Register on Aug 24, would make a fee of US$103,265 permanent.
It could be finalised by the end of the year.
The H-1B programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers with training in specialty fields and offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years. Those visas typically came with fees between US$2,000 and US$5,000 before Trump’s order.
The fee would not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas, who make up a large share of new H-1B recipients, or to renewals of current visas.
Trump, a Republican, and other critics of the H-1B programme say it is abused by many companies who replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour. But business groups and many individual companies have said the visa programme is needed to address a lack of qualified American workers for some jobs and to allow US businesses to recruit top talent.
About 70 employers had paid the US$100,000 fee on a total of 85 visa applications as of late February, according to court filings.
In imposing the fee, Trump invoked the president’s power under immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals who would be detrimental to US interests.
The fee is being challenged by the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business lobbying group, Democratic-led states and a coalition of unions and employers. Those lawsuits could be amended to challenge the rule proposed this week once it is finalised.
The lawsuits claim that Trump’s power to restrict entry does not allow him to override the law that created the H-1B visa programme. The states and groups that sued also say that the Homeland Security Department cannot impose fees, taxes or other means to generate revenue for the United States without permission from Congress.
The Trump administration has maintained that the fee is not a traditional tax and that courts have little power to question the president’s authority to restrict entry into the country.
Amid Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, employers in 2025 registered for about 344,000 H-1B visas, down more than 25 per cent from 2024 and fewer than half of the 794,000 visas sought in 2023, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The Trump administration has also ordered enhanced vetting of H-1B applicants and proposed a new visa selection process that would favour higher-skilled and better-paid workers. Earlier in August, the Department of Homeland Security in a separate rule added fees of up to US$4,500 to applications to extend the stay of H-1B workers or to transfer employees based in other countries to the US. REUTERS
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.