The US Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the new USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications, arguing that the fee is unlawful and would severely impact American businesses.
In a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday in Washington D.C., the Chamber asked the court to declare that President Donald Trump exceeded the executive branch’s authority by imposing the fee and to block federal government agencies from enforcing it.
H-1B visas are designed for high-skilled jobs that companies struggle to fill, most commonly in the tech sector and are primarily associated with tech workers from India.
Major tech firms are the largest users of this visa, with nearly three-fourths of approvals going to Indian applicants. However, critical workers such as teachers and doctors also rely on the programme, even though they do not fit the typical tech profile.
The Trump administration announced the fee last month, arguing that employers were replacing American workers with cheaper talent from overseas. Since then, the White House has said the fee won’t apply to existing visa holders and offered a form to request exemptions from the charge.
In its lawsuit, the Chamber argued that the new fee violates the immigration laws that govern the H-1B program, including the requirement that fees be based on the costs incurred by the government in processing visas.
“The President has significant authority over the entry of noncitizens into the United States, but that authority is bounded by statute and cannot directly contradict laws passed by Congress,” according to the complaint, which names the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and their respective cabinet secretaries as defendants.
"The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for US employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the US," said Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the US Chamber, while announcing the Chamber's action.
Before Trump's announcement regarding the imposition of the new fee, most H-1B visa applications cost less than USD 3,600, according to the Chamber.
“If implemented, that fee would inflict significant harm on American businesses, which would be forced to either dramatically increase their labor costs or hire fewer highly skilled employees for whom domestic replacements are not readily available," according to the complaint.
The new fee is scheduled to expire after a year, but could be extended if the government determines that is in the interest of the United States to keep it.
Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out through lottery. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers.
Critics say H-1B spots often go to entry-level jobs, rather than senior positions with unique skill requirements. And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
