Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today joined a coalition of 20 states in suing the Trump Administration over its unlawful policy imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions. H-1B visas allow U.S. employers to hire highly skilled foreign national workers in roles that require specialized skills, including as physicians, researchers, nurses, teachers, and other vital workers, to alleviate nationwide labor shortages.
“The Trump Administration’s illegal imposition of an exorbitant $100,000 fee on those seeking H-1B visas would cause significant pain for New Jerseyans, hurting our best-in-the-nation education system, reducing access to critical health care, and setting back cutting-edge medical and scientific research,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Because of this senseless and unlawful policy, our residents would see longer wait times in emergency rooms, lengthy delays for medical appointments, and more crowded classrooms. There is no rational or legal basis for this unlawful change, and we look forward to blocking this unlawful policy in court.”
On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation ordering an unprecedented $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions, undermining the very purpose of the H-1B visa by making it harder to address severe labor shortages in critical fields such as education and health care and ultimately worsening the staffing crisis. As implemented by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through a series of written documents, the policy affects any application filed after September 21, 2025.
The complaint filed today alleges that the $100,000 fee is a clear violation of the law because the massive fee is outside of the bounds of what is authorized by Congress and contrary to Congress’s intent in establishing the H-1B program, bypasses required rulemaking procedures, and exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The H-1B visa program allows employers to petition for high-skilled foreign workers to temporarily fill positions in specialty occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree. In petitioning for an H-1B worker, the employer must submit an application, certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, that employment of the H-1B worker will not negatively affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Congress limits the number of H-1B visas available each year for most private employers, with the current cap set at 65,000, with an exemption of 20,000 for individuals with a master’s degree or higher.
Since its inception, the H-1B visa program has been continually tailored by Congress to carry out its purpose of meeting employers’ labor needs, while protecting the interests of American workers to ensure that they are not wrongfully displaced. Congress has repeatedly enhanced enforcement, increased penalties, and legislated on fees for H-1B petitions to prevent misuse of the program. Congress has also adapted the program to ensure that it is especially beneficial to many government and non-profit organizations in fulfilling their public service missions, exempting them from the 65,000-person cap.
Fees associated with H-1B visas have long been established by DHS following the APA’s notice-and-comment process pursuant to congressional authority, which limits fees to the amount necessary to sustain the agency’s work. Typically, an employer filing an initial H-1B petition would expect to pay between $960 and $7,595 in regulatory and statutory fees—a far cry from the new $100,000 fee imposed by the Trump Administration.
The Trump Administration’s $100,000 fee far exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions. By imposing this fee, the Administration is exceeding the fee-setting authority granted by Congress, which requires that fees be set based on the agency’s costs. Additionally, the Trump Administration issued the fee without going through the notice-and-comment process required by the APA and without considering the full range of impacts of this fee—especially on the provision of critical services by government and non-profit entities.
Nationwide, immigrants on H-1B visas play a critical role in addressing labor shortages. That is especially true in New Jersey. The Garden State had the fourth-highest number of approvals for H-1B petitions for initial employment in the country in FY25 (7,729).
In New Jersey, H-1B visas have played an important role in addressing teacher shortages in K-12 schools and shortages of primary care doctors and nurses. For example, New Jersey has faced a years-long K-12 teacher shortage, resulting in increased class sizes and overburdened teachers. New Jersey has relied on H-1B visas to help address this shortage, with 20 K-12 school systems securing an H-1B approval in 2025 alone.
H-1B visas also play a critical role in addressing shortages of primary care doctors and nurses. New Jersey has nine medical residency programs that sponsor H-1B visas. And nearly one-third of New Jersey’s health care workers are immigrants, and many of them are H-1B workers.
Today’s lawsuit was led by California and Massachusetts. In addition to New Jersey, other states joining the lawsuit are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
