Federal judge blocks H1B visa $100K fee

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A federal judge ruled on Monday to block President Donald Trump’s policy on imposing a $100,000 fee for new H1-B visas, a ruling that could save hundreds of education jobs in Alaska.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant, employer-sponsored visa for foreign professionals in “specialty occupations” requiring at least a bachelor’s degree, commonly in STEM, healthcare, or education fields. It is valid for up to six years, but must be renewed in three-year increments.

Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the fee violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. He states in his ruling that the Trump administration did not explain the decision to implement the fee and found that it was a tax.

Alaska’s delegation and the Alaska Legislature were urging the federal government to waive the new H-1B Visa fees for teachers in the state.

Lisa Parady, director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, which supports districts with hiring and recruitment efforts, says there are 573 international teachers working in Alaska, and 341 of them use H-1B visas.

“In some rural districts, visa teachers make up 50% to nearly 80% of the teaching staff. School districts already invest $6,000 to $12,000 per teacher to recruit and sponsor educators through the H-1B visa process. Adding a $100,000 federal visa fee has made it financially impossible for many districts to continue hiring the teachers their students depend on. Without an exemption for K-12 public education, rural schools across Alaska would face severe staffing shortages and significant disruptions to student learning,” Parady said in a press release.

Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have both independently written letters to the former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem asking for exemptions.

Murkowski introduced a bill in March — S.4087 — that would exempt public school employees from the non-processing-related fees for H-1B visas. Sullivan is a co-sponsor of the bill.

Murkowski released a public statement on Monday saying that the judge’s ruling is a welcome relief for Alaska’s schools.

“Today’s decision from a U.S. District Judge to vacate the policy implementing the Presidential Proclamation mandating a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applicants—a 5,000% increase in some cases—came at a critical time for Alaska’s schools that are in the midst of hiring before next fall,“ Murkowski said. “Many school districts in rural and remote parts of the state rely on the H-1B visa program to bring quality teachers to their communities. In Alaska, this isn’t a partisan issue: the state legislature unanimously passed a resolution last month urging the federal government to waive the fee for educators.”

She also states that she plans to work on eliminating the fee permanently so that “Alaska’s students receive the best education possible, regardless of the outcome of future legal challenges.”

The Alaska Legislature passed a joint resolution in May asking for the exemptions, saying that the fees would have resulted in the state making “the difficult choice of paying millions of dollars for visa recipients or going without these needed teachers.”