A second US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing its $100,000 fee on certain H-1B visa petitions, delivering another legal blow to a policy with far-reaching consequences for Indian professionals who dominate the programme. The ruling was issued on Wednesday, 1 October 2026 by US District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California.

What the Court Ruled

Judge Gilliam found that federal agencies failed to follow required rulemaking procedures when rolling out the fee, which was originally introduced through a presidential proclamation on 19 September 2025 and extended in September 2026. His order bars relevant agencies from enforcing or implementing policies issued under both the original proclamation and its extension, while the agencies comply with requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The case, Global Nurse Force et al. v. Trump et al., was brought by a coalition of health care providers, educational institutions, manufacturing companies, labour organisations, and individual workers. The court found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated they were likely to succeed on the argument that agencies violated federal administrative law by bypassing the mandatory notice-and-comment rulemaking process.

Why Indians Are Disproportionately Affected

The ruling carries particular weight for Indian nationals, who account for the overwhelming majority of H-1B beneficiaries. Data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) show that 71 per cent of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2024 were for beneficiaries born in India. China was a distant second at approximately 12 per cent.

Kalpana V. Peddibhotla, executive director of the South Asian American Justice Collaborative — one of the organisations involved in the legal challenge — said: 'Indian nationals bore a disproportionate share of the harm from this USD 100,000 fee, which put employment opportunities and families' futures at risk and left employers unable to afford the workers they needed.'

This Is Not the First Judicial Block

Wednesday's order is the second time a federal court has halted enforcement of the fee. In June, US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts ruled in a separate challenge brought by 20 states that policies implementing the payment violated federal law. The government appealed that decision.

On 24 July, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected the administration's request to stay that ruling while the appeal proceeded, affirming that the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State actions to implement the presidential proclamation had been vacated.

The Administration's Position and What the H-1B Programme Covers

The Trump administration has argued that restrictions on the H-1B programme are necessary to protect American workers and prevent misuse of the visa system. The programme allows US employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in speciality occupations — roles typically requiring specialised knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree — and is widely used across technology, engineering, health care, and research sectors.

Federal law makes 65,000 new H-1B visas available annually, with an additional 20,000 slots reserved for applicants holding advanced degrees from US institutions. Indian professionals have for years constituted the single largest group of H-1B beneficiaries, making any changes to the programme closely watched in India and across the Indian-American professional community.

With two blocking orders now in place and a government appeal still pending before the First Circuit, the legal battle over the $100,000 fee is far from over — and its final resolution could reshape how the H-1B programme operates for years to come.