Trump administration proposes $103,265 H-1B visa fee despite court defeat

United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed a hike in H-1B visa fee in a bid to make immigration to the U.S. much more difficult as part of the government’s anti-immigration crackdown.

In September last year, the administration increased the fee to up to $60,000; however, a judge ruled it illegal and stopped the government from collecting it.

The Trump administration hasn’t backed down and the new proposal, published in Federal Register on Monday, indicated that the fee would be increased to $100,000 for H-1B visa, a category used to allow highly skilled foreign workers to stay and work in the U.S. and it is mostly used in technology, education and research sectors.

A Boston-based appeals court is reviewing the decision of a judge to stop the government from collecting the increased fee, while a separate court considers whether a judge properly ​rejected a challenge to the fee by a major business group.

Before Trump’s order, the fee for these visas was $2,000 to $5,000.

The government offers around 60,000 H-1B visas annually for three to six years and another 20,000 are granted to workers in advanced degrees.

The fee would not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens already in the United States on student visas, who make up a large share of new H-1B recipients or to renewals of current visas.