Suit in US challenges H-1B fee hike

A coalition of workers unions, nonprofit organisations and religious groups launched the first legal challenge against President Donald Trump's H-1B visa fee hike, arguing the president lacks authority to unilaterally alter the terms of an immigration programme created by Congress.

- Shashank Mattoo

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California on Friday, seeks to overturn Trump's presidential proclamation that raised H-1B application fees from roughly $2,000 to $100,000 — a change widely expected to make hiring foreign workers uneconomical for most US companies.

The legal challenge represents the first significant effort to contest the Trump administration's skilled immigration crackdown and could determine how much flexibility any president has to alter visa programmes without congressional approval.