Between September 30 and October 1, 2026, a federal court in the Northern District of California halted the enforcement of the $100,000 fee for employers filing H-1B petitions for individuals outside the U.S. This is the second such ruling this year. For Polish professionals planning to work in the United States and the companies that hire them, this is important news, although it does not yet definitively settle the matter.
What the California court ruled
The case is titled Global Nurse Force v. Trump and is presided over by Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. According to legal news services, including JURIST, the judge found that immigration agencies implemented the fee without conducting the “notice-and-comment” procedure—meaning the publication of proposed rules and the gathering of public feedback—as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. According to JURIST, the court ordered DHS to conduct such a procedure and an analysis of the impact on small businesses. Sources differ on details: some reports indicate a halt to the guidelines implementing the fee, while others link the ruling also to the September extension of the proclamation through September 2027. The exact scope is determined by the full text of the court order, which is worth reading alongside an attorney.
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of labor unions, employers, and non-profit organizations, including Global Nurse Force. According to Bloomberg Law, the plaintiffs’ argument was that immigration law does not allow the president to independently decide on additional burdens for a visa program created by Congress, a thesis reinforced by a recent Supreme Court ruling on tariffs indicating that tax authority belongs to Congress. The judge, however, focused primarily on the agency’s procedural error.
The second such ruling
Previously, in June 2026, a similar blow was dealt to the fee by Judge Leo Sorokin of Massachusetts, and the First Circuit appeals court refused to stay that ruling in July. According to legal reports, the California ruling has nationwide scope, and the administration is still appealing the Massachusetts decision. We have already covered the fee itself, its extension, and the concurrently ongoing DHS proposal on Poland.us in the articles “H-1B $100,000 fee expires September 20, 2026” and “H-1B proclamation extended to September 21, 2027”.
What is still unknown
The ruling does not mean the end of the dispute. The Department of Justice has not yet announced whether it will appeal the California decision. According to one service, USCIS has not yet published updated guidelines for employers. In the reports we read, we also found no information regarding refunds for companies that have already paid the fee. A separate issue is the DHS proposal, which in August proposed a formal fee of $103,265 as part of the full rulemaking procedure. This proposal has not yet entered into force, and the government may attempt to introduce the fee through the proper regulatory channels.
What to do in practice
Employers planning H-1B petitions for candidates from outside the U.S. should check the latest USCIS announcements and consult their strategy with an immigration attorney before filing, as the legal situation changes from week to week. Candidates should not assume that the fee has disappeared permanently. This text is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
Polish attorneys from our Polish Pages directory can help with immigration matters.
