The legal battle over the future of the H-1B visa programme has intensified, with the US Chamber of Commerce formally appealing a court ruling that upheld the Trump administration’s controversial $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, according to Bloomberg.
The Chamber filed a notice of appeal on Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging a December 23 ruling by US District Judge Beryl Howell. The judge held that former President Donald Trump acted lawfully when he sharply increased the cost of the widely used work visa through a presidential proclamation issued in September.
The appeal adds momentum to a growing legal showdown in Washington. Trump’s fee hike is already being challenged in separate lawsuits—one in Massachusetts led by more than a dozen Democratic-led states, and another in California filed by a global nurse-staffing agency alongside multiple labor unions. Legal experts widely expect the dispute to ultimately reach the US Supreme Court.
The H-1B visa programme is a cornerstone of employment-based immigration, enabling US companies—particularly in technology, healthcare, and engineering—to hire college-educated foreign professionals for specialised roles. Trump has defended the steep fee increase as a measure to curb alleged abuse of the programme and prevent displacement of American workers.
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have also claimed the higher fee could generate a massive windfall for the US Treasury, potentially exceeding $100 billion. However, immigration attorneys and industry leaders warn that such a dramatic increase would severely disrupt hiring, raise operational costs, and negatively impact the broader US economy.
In its October lawsuit, the Chamber argued that the fee is unlawful, asserting that it overrides federal immigration law and exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch by Congress. Judge Howell rejected that argument, ruling that Trump acted under an “express statutory grant of authority to the President.”
The ruling has significantly weakened the Chamber’s position on appeal. Bloomberg Intelligence Litigation Analyst Matthew Schettenhelm noted that the business group faces an uphill battle, observing that if Judge Howell—an Obama appointee known for tough scrutiny of the Trump administration—found no legal flaws, higher courts are unlikely to rule differently.
The case is titled Chamber of Commerce v. US Department of Homeland Security (25-cv-03675), US District Court for the District of Columbia.
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