Federal court vacates $100,000 visa fee opposed by radiologists

A U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Monday vacated the $100,000 new visa fee that had rankled radiologists and other physicians. 

Judge Leo T. Sorkin declared the charge unlawful, contending it “exceeds the fee-setting authority delegated by Congress.” First announced through an executive order in September, the administration wants to charge the six-figure fee for immigrants seeking to enter America through the H-1B visa program. 

However, a district court is now halting the change, though the federal government is expected to appeal, the American Hospital Association reported June 8. 

State attorneys general—who sued to stop the fee from being implemented—celebrated the decision. 

“Every day, thousands of people with H-1B visas serve New Yorkers as doctors, teachers and other skilled workers,” state AG Letitia James said in a statement. “Today a court put an end to this administration’s illegal attempt to destroy this critical program and the many jobs it makes possible.”

Congress first created the visa program as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows employers to petition for high-skilled workers to temporarily fill positions in specialty occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree. Employers are required to submit an application, certified by the Department of Labor, that hiring the H-1B worker won’t negatively impact wages and working conditions for other similarly situated individuals. Congress currently limits the number of such visas each year, with the current cap set at 65,000, the California AG notes.

In making its case for the fee last year, the administration contended the program has been “deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American Workers.” The White House said it wants to restrict access to the U.S., “except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.” 

Federal officials on Monday said they are “confident this order will be reversed on appeal,” the Associated Press reported.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, our immigration system is being reformed to serve American citizens, American workers, and American families and to preserve our national identity—not to rapidly import foreigners who take American jobs, commit crimes, burden our welfare system, and erode our cultural and social fabric,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement shared with the AP.

The American College of Radiology, Society of Interventional Radiology, American Medical Association and other doc groups previously urged the administration to exempt physicians from the new fee. Experts have expressed concern that these changes could exacerbate staffing shortages in medical imaging and other high-need areas of medicine. A recent study estimated that international medical graduates represent about 24% of diagnostic radiologists in the U.S., as of 2021. 

Physicians celebrated the court’s ruling on Monday. AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD, charged that IMGs play a “vital role in caring for patients, particularly in underserved and rural areas.” The California attorney general noted that states often rely on H-1B workers to address staffing shortages in critical fields such as healthcare. Researchers estimate that such workers and their dependents contribute $86 billion annually to the economy and pay $35 billion in federal and payroll taxes, the AG noted. 

“Today’s decision blocking the $100,000 visa fee is a victory for patients,” Mukkamala said in a statement. “At a time when communities across the country face physician shortages and growing barriers to care, we should be removing obstacles—not creating new ones—to attract talented physicians and other highly skilled professionals.”