A second US federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California ruled on September 30 that federal agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by skipping required notice-and-comment rulemaking.

The order, in the case Global Nurse Force v. Trump, bars agencies from enforcing the fee under the original September 2025 proclamation and its September 2026 extension until proper rulemaking is completed. The court also denied the government’s request for a stay pending appeal.

This is the second court to strike at the fee. In June, a Massachusetts judge blocked it in a case brought by 20 states, and the First Circuit refused to stay that ruling. A separate challenge by the US Chamber of Commerce is pending in the D.C. Circuit.

Indian nationals accounted for 71 per cent of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal 2024, making them the group most affected by the $100,000 charge per petition.