Trump Administration Appeals Second Court Loss on $100,000 H-1B Fee

The Trump administration filed an appeal on Oct. 9, 2026, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a California ruling that froze the $100,000 H-1B fee. The appeal does not bring the fee back. Two federal court orders still bar USCIS and Customs and Border Protection from collecting it.

The case is Global Nurse Force v. Trump (N.D. Cal. No. 4:25-cv-08454). On Sept. 30, Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. blocked the agency memos and payment guidance that carry out the fee, under both the 2025 proclamation and its 2026 extension. Employers unsure whether a petition would be covered can check our table of who must pay the $100,000 H-1B fee.

Government lawyers also asked for a stay of Gilliam’s order. They argued that the First and D.C. Circuits are already hearing challenges to the same fee, that the dispute will likely end at the Supreme Court, and that a pause would save the courts and the parties time and money.

What the Sept. 30 ruling blocked

Gilliam granted a preliminary injunction. He found the challengers, a group of employers, a nurse staffing company, unions, a professors’ association and a church, likely to win their claim that DHS skipped required notice-and-comment rulemaking and acted arbitrarily. We covered the order and its practical effect for filings in our report on the court order blocking the fee on new H-1B petitions.

The order leaves the presidential proclamations themselves in place. Instead it stops the agencies from enforcing them until the rulemaking steps are done. That reach matters because the White House extended the policy through Sept. 21, 2027 just 12 days before the ruling. The injunction covers the extension too.

It is the second court loss for the fee. In June, a Massachusetts federal judge vacated the policy in a suit brought by 20 states, and the First Circuit refused to revive it in July.

How the fight got here

The fee has been in court for most of its life, with rulings going both ways. The timeline below shows each ruling and filing in order.

Is the $100,000 fee in effect right now?

No. As of Oct. 12, 2026, employers should not be paying the $100,000 charge on covered H-1B petitions. Two separate orders, one from Massachusetts and one from California, block enforcement, and the Oct. 9 appeal does not change either one.

That could change if an appeals court grants a stay. USCIS has said DHS intends to collect the payment if the orders blocking it are lifted. Normal H-1B filing fees still apply, and every petition must still meet the usual H-1B requirements.

• Ninth Circuit: stay request on Gilliam’s Sept. 30 order is pending.
• First Circuit: merits appeal of the June 8 Massachusetts ruling is pending; a stay was already denied July 24.
• D.C. Circuit: the Chamber of Commerce’s appeal of the December 2025 ruling that upheld the fee is pending.
• DHS rule: the proposed $103,265 fee is separate and not in effect.

What employers and workers should do

Employers filing new petitions should file without the $100,000 payment while the orders stand, keep a copy of the court orders in the case file, and check for a Ninth Circuit or First Circuit stay before each filing. A stay could take effect quickly. H-1B lottery entries fell sharply after the fee took effect, so employers who shelved hiring plans may want to revisit them while it is blocked.

Workers outside the U.S. waiting on a new H-1B should confirm with their employer’s attorney whether their petition was filed while the fee was blocked, and avoid travel plans that depend on a filing that has not happened yet.

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