Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee is unlawful,US court rules

A US court on Monday struck down $100,000 fee announced by US President Donald Trump on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, declaring that the application charge was unlawful and must be invalidated. US District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose the massive fee without approval from Congress.Judge Sorokin in Boston sided with California and 19 other Democratic-led states that challenged the policy in court. The states argued that the president lacked the legal authority to create such a fee on his own. The ruling is one of several legal setbacks facing the policy. Separate lawsuits have also been filed by the US Chamber of Commerce, business groups and employers that rely heavily on skilled foreign workers.
Sorokin, during the ruling, said the fee was not a penalty but a tax that the Republican president lacked any authorization from Congress to issue and that the US State Department and US Citizenship and Immigration Services could not implement.Proclamation is declared unlawful and is vacated in its entirety, the court ruled.
The H-1B programme offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years. Employers seeking a visa for a foreign worker used to pay a fee of around $2,000 to $5,000. The H-1B programme is one of the most important pathways for highly skilled Indians to work in the US. It allows US companies to hire foreign professionals specialised in technology, engineering, healthcare and finance. Indian nationals consistently receive the majority of H-1B visas issued each year.
 Trump had imposed the hefty $100,000 fee as part of the Republican administration's growing efforts to curb foreign workers from “taking away” domestic jobs and penalising companies hiring international workers. Several members of the Republican government, including vice president JD Vance, have alleged widespread fraud and abuse in the H-1B visa system. The visas are granted for a period of three years and can be renewed for a period of another three years.