Does the First Circuit uphold the ruling striking down the $100,000 H-1B fee?
Will the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirm the Massachusetts district court's June 2026 ruling vacating the Trump administration's $100,000 H-1B visa fee proclamation, rather than reversing it and reinstating the fee?
Litigation odds favor upholding the vacatur, given the First Circuit has already twice declined to let the fee take effect pending appeal
Immigration and trade bar commentary (Littler, BT Law, Vialto) reads the First Circuit's refusal to stay the district court's order as a signal the panel sees the government's appeal as weak on the merits, since appellate courts routinely grant stays when they think an appeal is likely to succeed. But that is a prediction, not a ruling: the stay denial addressed only irreparable harm while the appeal is pending, not the underlying legality of using a presidential proclamation to impose an H-1B fee, and the administration has signaled it will keep pressing the case, including potentially to the Supreme Court if it loses at the First Circuit.
No fixed date · No oral-argument or decision date has been set; the First Circuit denied the government's stay motion on July 24, 2026 and the merits appeal remains pending
A federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the Trump administration's $100,000 H-1B fee proclamation nationwide on June 8, 2026, and the First Circuit denied the government's request to stay that ruling on July 24, 2026 — meaning the fee has remained blocked and unenforced since. USCIS confirmed on July 28 it would not collect the fee while the appeal proceeds. The government's appeal on the merits is still pending at the First Circuit, with no oral-argument date yet public. A separate U.S. Chamber of Commerce suit challenging the fee was rejected by a different federal judge but is itself on appeal, adding a second parallel track to the litigation. Commentators expect further escalation regardless of outcome, including a possible petition for Supreme Court review.
The First Circuit's merits ruling on the government's appeal has exactly two outcomes: affirm the vacatur (the fee stays struck down) or reverse it (the fee is reinstated).
Researched Oct 29, 2026 · tracked since Oct 29, 2026
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The $100K fee stays blockedthis is “yes”
The First Circuit already twice refused to let the fee take effect while the appeal is pending, suggesting the panel views the government's legal theory — that a proclamation alone can impose a $100,000-per-petition fee Congress never authorized — as weak; USCIS itself stopped collecting it in July.
Worth knowing: A stay denial is not a merits ruling — it only means the harm of leaving the fee blocked a few more months was judged smaller than reinstating it prematurely; the panel could still rule for the government once it reaches the actual legal question.
The First Circuit reinstates the fee
The administration has shown it will keep pressing this fight regardless of early setbacks, and a reversal would restore a powerful tool for steering employers toward domestic hiring, which is the policy's stated goal.
Worth knowing: Even a government win at the First Circuit could be appealed further by H-1B employers to the Supreme Court, so 'no' here may just restart the stay fight at a higher court rather than settling the fee's fate.
5 sources, leaning both ways
- yesBT Law — First Circuit denies government's request to stay decision striking down $100,000 H-1B feeChecked Oct 29: primary law-firm summary of the July 24 stay denial and its implications for the merits appeal.
- yesVialto Partners — Federal appeals court declines to pause district court decision invalidating $100,000 H-1B feeChecked Oct 29: confirms USCIS will not collect the fee while the appeal proceeds.
- mixedLittler — Appellate court pauses $100,000 H-1B fee policy, appeal continuesChecked Oct 29: notes the appeal on the underlying legality remains open and unresolved despite the stay denial.
- yesFree Press Journal (wire) — US appeals court rejects Trump bid to reinstate $100,000 H-1B visa feeChecked Oct 29: general-news report on the same stay denial.
- mixedNational Law Review — $100,000 H-1B fee on hold while government's appeal proceedsChecked Oct 29: frames the fee as merely 'on hold,' not permanently resolved, pending the merits decision.