U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the $100,000 fee on H-1B visas is unlawful and issued the decision in favor of 20 states that had challenged the new fee announced by the Trump administration in September.
The judge said that the Trump administration’s decision exceeded its authority and violated its jurisdiction, in which President Donald Trump had imposed a $100,000 tax on H-1B visas.
Boston-based U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin gave this ruling on Monday (June 8, 2026).
This order brings significant relief for Indians, as well as for Indian professionals and U.S. IT companies, after this decision.
After the court’s order, the decision has been struck down. However, the Trump administration has indicated that it may appeal to a higher court, although no official statement has been made so far.
President Trump, through a Presidential Proclamation issued in September 2025, made this $100,000 supplementary fee mandatory. The government argued that it would increase job opportunities for local workers.
The court said that this is not a fee or penalty but a tax imposed by the Trump administration. It added that the power to levy taxes under the U.S. Constitution belongs only to Congress, not the President. Therefore, the decision was beyond the President’s authority and was unlawful.
The court also held that, before making this decision, the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act were not met, and that no notice-and-comment process or public consultation was conducted before its implementation.
The court described the decision as “arbitrary and irrational.”
The court also said that the government failed to consider that this decision could have led to a significant shortage of doctors, teachers, researchers in public universities and educational institutions, as well as IT engineers in the country.
After this ruling, it is a major victory for Indian IT companies such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and HCL. The annual H-1B visa cap is 85,000, and around 85% of these visas are typically issued to Indians, making this a significant relief for Indians.
As a result of this decision, Indian companies will no longer face an additional financial burden.
H-1B visa applicants will now have to pay the standard fee of around $2,000 to $5,000, as before.
Several reports have shown that Indians make up the majority of H-1B visa holders, with more than 70% of the total visas going to Indians.
It has now become easier for Indian talent to go to the United States.
Major U.S. companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple also employ a large number of Indian software engineers, and now they will be able to retain Indian talent without any financial barriers.
There is also strong demand for Indian doctors and researchers in the United States, and now it will become easier for them to go to the U.S. and work as doctors and researchers.
After the visa fee was increased, there was a significant decline in Indian applicants, but after this decision, the number of applications may increase again.
Reports suggested that due to this visa application fee, companies might have reduced salaries, but now that will not happen.
Every year, more than 250,000 to 500,000 people from India apply for the H-1B visa lottery, and around 70% of these applications come through Indian IT companies.
TCS processes more than 5,500 visa applications every year, while Infosys and Cognizant each process around 2,500 to 5,000+ visa applications. Other companies include HCL Tech and Wipro.
India applied for the H-1B visa in these numbers in recent years.
FY 2017: 144,275
FY 2018: 171,100
FY 2019: 137,821
FY 2020: 145,732
FY 2021: 198,821
FY 2022: 223,744
FY 2023: 350,847
FY 2024: 566,140
FY 2025: 347,965
FY 2026: 249,386
Photo: @Graph
