President Donald Trump has once again been vindicated by the ruling of a federal judge who decided to uphold the administration’s $100,000 fee for an H-1B visa. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell shot down a challenge against the fee from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Universities, which claimed the policy was unlawful.
In the early part of December 2025, a total of 18 Democratic-led states sued the administration over the visa application fee. While the ruling is good news for Trump, the groups still have the right to appeal the decision. The judge’s ruling comes after months of work from the current administration to reform the broken immigration system in the United States.
The decision will likely have a huge impact on technology companies that have a reputation for using H-1B visas to hire foreign skilled workers. The fee comes along with several other adjustments to the visa program, including the replacement of the random lottery for H-1B applicants. Officials are planning to prioritize the visa applications of individuals who are considered high-skilled and higher-paid, according to information from the Department of Homeland Security.
A report from The Hill quoted part of a statement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser, who said. “The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers.”
“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers,” the statement continued. As of this writing, the United States currently admits 65,000 people under the H-1B visa, along with another 20,000 for U.S. advanced degree holders.
The administration’s fees are part of President Trump’s plan to prioritize U.S. citizens for key important roles in the workforce over foreign workers. The program is reserved for individuals who work in specialized fields, mostly in technology, with several examples including software engineers and tech program managers. Visas are approved for a period of three to six years.
Watch Trump and Secretary Lutnick comment on the H-1B fee when signing it into law here:
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According to AOL, the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas in 2023 was India, which had 71% of their applications approved. Coming in a distant second place was China with 11.7%. The report goes on to say that online retailer Amazon had over 10,000 visas approved in 2023, while both Meta and Microsoft had 5,000 visas approved.
The largest employer in the country, Walmart, announced in October 2025 that it would be putting job offers made to foreign candidates in need of H-1B visas on hold. At that time, the company, which has been expanding its online presence to provide an alternative to Amazon, employed 2,000 H-1B visa holders. While the president has had many Republicans on his side about the changes made to H-1B visas, not everyone is in agreement with the fee.
Former Trump advisor and friend Elon Musk, himself a billionaire in the technology space, advocated for the H-1B program, which led to several high-profile MAGA supporters, such as Steve Bannon, rebuking him for his stance on the matter. Some Republicans also defended the program saying it was necessary to ensure America continued to “bring in talent.”