The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s newly imposed $100,000 annual fee on H-1B worker visas, arguing that the steep charge violates federal law and would cripple American businesses’ ability to hire skilled foreign talent.
The lawsuit comes just weeks after President Donald Trump announced sweeping changes to the H-1B visa program — a move his administration said was aimed at “reworking” how companies bring in foreign professionals in high-skill sectors such as technology, engineering, and finance. The new policy would require U.S. employers to pay $100,000 per year for each H-1B visa, a dramatic increase from previous fees that ranged between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on company size.
In a statement released Thursday, the Chamber said the new fee “overrides provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that govern the H-1B program, including the requirement that fees be based on the costs incurred by the government in processing visas.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court, seeks to block the rule from taking effect and declares that the administration lacks the authority to impose such a drastic fee increase without congressional approval.
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Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer of the U.S. Chamber, said the measure would devastate small and medium-sized businesses that rely on international expertise to compete globally.
“The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.,” Bradley said.
The fee announcement in September triggered alarm across the U.S. technology sector, where foreign workers make up a significant portion of the skilled labor force. Startups and venture-backed firms — already struggling with tight labor markets and rising costs — said the measure could effectively shut them out of the global talent pool. Major technology companies, including those that contributed heavily to Trump’s presidential campaign, have also relied heavily on H-1B visas to recruit software engineers, data scientists, and other specialists from countries such as India and China.
Industry groups said the $100,000 fee represents not just a financial burden but a structural shift in how the government views skilled immigration. The fee is seen not as a cost-recovery measure — it’s a deterrent, as it effectively prices out smaller players and consolidates access to global talent among the wealthiest corporations.
The H-1B visa program, created by Congress in 1990, allows U.S. companies to hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations for an initial period of three years, extendable up to six years. The program is capped at 65,000 visas per year, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants holding advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. In recent years, the program has been oversubscribed several times over, forcing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to run a lottery to allocate visas.
Even before the new fee, the process was already costly and complex. Companies paid thousands of dollars in legal and filing fees, often without any guarantee of approval. Under the new rule, employers would be required to pay $100,000 annually — effectively $300,000 for a standard three-year term — regardless of whether the employee remains with the company.
The Trump administration has also proposed revising the lottery system to prioritize higher-wage earners and restrict eligibility for certain occupations. Supporters of the overhaul argue that the current system has been abused by outsourcing firms that use H-1B workers to undercut U.S. wages, while opponents say the changes are part of a broader anti-immigration agenda that could weaken America’s technological edge.
Trump, who campaigned on reshoring jobs and “putting American workers first,” has made restricting immigration a centerpiece of his economic strategy. The new H-1B policy aligns with his administration’s broader push to favor domestic hiring, limit temporary work programs, and increase scrutiny of employment-based visas.
But business leaders argue that these measures contradict the administration’s stated goals of expanding the economy and maintaining U.S. leadership in innovation.
“President Trump has embarked on an ambitious agenda of securing permanent pro-growth tax reforms, unleashing American energy, and unraveling the overregulation that has stifled growth,” Bradley said in the Chamber’s statement. “The Chamber and our members have actively backed these proposals to attract more investment in America. To support this growth, our economy will require more workers, not fewer.”
Economists warn that limiting access to skilled foreign labor could exacerbate workforce shortages in key industries. According to the National Foundation for American Policy, over 70% of H-1B visa recipients work in STEM fields, with the largest share employed in computer and information technology sectors. U.S. companies have long cited shortages of domestic workers with advanced technical skills, particularly in artificial intelligence, semiconductor design, and cybersecurity — areas the government itself has identified as critical to national security.
For smaller firms, the implications could be particularly severe. Critics of the new fee note that it risks driving innovation offshore at a time when global talent competition is intensifying. Canada, the United Kingdom, and several European Union countries have recently eased visa rules for skilled migrants to attract workers leaving the U.S. market. The Chamber’s lawsuit warns that if the rule is not struck down, it could lead to an immediate and measurable decline in foreign investment and job creation in the United States.
However, the Chamber’s case could hinge on whether the administration overstepped statutory limits set by Congress, according to legal experts. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, visa fees must correspond to administrative costs rather than serve as policy tools.
The legal challenge adds to a growing list of court battles between the business community and the Trump administration over immigration, trade, and regulatory policy. Despite Trump’s close ties to corporate America, the H-1B overhaul has drawn sharp criticism from sectors that once viewed his economic agenda favorably.