U.S. Chamber of Commerce sues Trump administration over $100,000 H-1B visa price

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the Trump administration for imposing a $100,00 annual price for brand spanking new H-1B visa functions, claiming the price is illegal and would considerably hurt U.S. companies.

In a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday (October 16, 2025) in Washington D.C., the Chamber asks the courtroom to declare that President Donald Trump exceeded the manager department’s authority by imposing the price and bloc federal authorities companies from imposing it.

H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that tech corporations discover arduous to fill and are primarily related to tech employees from India. Big tech corporations are the most important consumer of the visa, and almost three-quarters of these accepted are from India. But there are important employees, like academics and medical doctors, who fall outdoors that class.

The Trump administration introduced the price final month, arguing that employers had been changing American employees with cheaper expertise from abroad. Since then, the White House has mentioned the price gained’t apply to current visa holders and supplied a kind to request exemptions from the cost.

In its lawsuit, the Chamber argues that the brand new price violates the immigration legal guidelines that govern the H-1B program, together with the requirement that charges be primarily based on the prices incurred by the federal government in processing visas.

“The President has important authority over the entry of noncitizens into the United States, however that authority is bounded by statute and can’t instantly contradict legal guidelines handed by Congress,” in accordance with the grievance, which names the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and their respective cupboard secretaries as defendants.

Prior to Mr. Trump’s proclamation imposing the brand new price, most H-1B visa functions value lower than $3,600, in accordance with the Chamber.

“If applied, that price would inflict important hurt on American companies, which might be pressured to both dramatically improve their labor prices or rent fewer extremely expert staff for whom home replacements will not be available,” in accordance with the grievance.

The new price is scheduled to run out after a 12 months, however might be prolonged if the federal government determines that’s within the curiosity of the United States to maintain it.

Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out by lottery. This 12 months, Amazon was by far the highest recipient of H-1B visas with greater than 10,000 awarded, adopted by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the best variety of H-1B employees.

Critics say H-1B spots typically go to entry-level jobs, quite than senior positions with distinctive talent necessities. And whereas this system isn’t purported to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. employees, critics say corporations will pay much less by classifying jobs on the lowest talent ranges, even when the particular employees employed have extra expertise.