The Indian diaspora is actively discussing the first lawsuit filed recently against President Trump’s proclamation, which has slapped an entry fee of $ 100K on all new H-1B visa petitions filed after the specified date of September 21.Also read: Cross section of organisations sue to halt Trump’s $100K entry fee for new H-1B applicationsIn social media forums, the Indian plaintiff who is a party to the first lawsuit to challenge the entry fee is being hailed as a hero for stepping forward to challenge Trump’s proclamation. The clock is ticking for this post-doctoral researcher at a US university, as her employer has paused her H-1B cap-exempt sponsorship.
As TOI had reported earlier, while the entry fee kicks in for new H-1B cap applications in the next lottery season (Spring 2026), the immediate impact will be felt by those employers (such as Universities, non-profit entities affiliated with universities, non-profit research organisations) that are eligible to hire cap-exempt employees – many of whom cannot afford this steep fee. Also read: Relief for current H-1B employees but a blow to future hiringShe is one of the many plaintiffs, others include a cross section of organisations representing health care providers, academicians, educational institutions, and religious organisations. The only other individual who is contesting this joint lawsuit is a UK national.The woman has filed the lawsuit under a pseudonym ‘Phoenix Doe’. She has been identified in the lawsuit only as “a citizen of India residing in the Northern District of California”.Her work explores the genetic and epigenetic causes of vision loss from ageing, diabetes and rare inherited disorders, aiming to improve diagnosis and treatment of blinding conditions.According to the lawsuit, she is the lab’s first post-doctoral scholar and is critical to building its research programme; her project requires at least two more years. Valued for her combined expertise in computational biology and bench research, she had been approved for H-1B sponsorship and expected to finalise the process by December — which would have allowed her to visit India for the first time in six years.Instead, the university has indefinitely paused her H-1B application, leaving her in limbo. In the lawsuit, she submits that the uncertainty has caused her severe stress and anxiety, aggravating her post traumatic stress disorder. Without judicial relief she will have to leave her position within four months. Her exit, it points out, would derail crucial eye-disease research, disrupt the lab’s funding prospects and delay progress toward new treatments.The lawsuit submits that by slapping an unlawful $100K price tag on every new H-1B petition, the government has effectively barred many US employers from sponsoring foreign professionals like her.The Indian plaintiff’s ordeal is emblematic of the toll the proclamation and shifting immigration policies take on families and communities. “South Asians make up the majority of H-1B workers and are part of the fabric of America… This unlawful fee threatens workers, their families, and the financial and social wellbeing of the communities in which they live.”The lawsuit seeks an injunction halting the fee’s enforcement, a declaration that the order is unlawful, and a return to the original statutory H-1B framework (without imposition of the entry fee).The case has drawn attention in India — home to the largest share of H-1B talent — as it could determine whether professionals like the unnamed plaintiff can continue contributing to the US workforce without prohibitive costs hanging over their visas.
