A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee on September 30. Judge Haywood Gilliam ruled the fee was imposed without the proper rulemaking process. The fee failed the notice-and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.

It is the second court to strike down the fee. A federal court in Boston blocked it in June. The First Circuit upheld that ruling in July. The fee had been extended through 2027 before the courts intervened.

The US Chamber of Commerce has filed a third lawsuit against the fee. The business group says the fee would cripple hiring of skilled foreign workers. Tech companies are among the biggest users of H-1B visas.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security has proposed a permanent fee of about $103,000. The court rulings do not block that proposal directly. But they signal that any fee must go through full public rulemaking first.