Trump administration proposes $103,000 fee for skilled worker visas

The Trump administration has revived a proposal to charge employers seeking skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa program more than $US100,000, according to a new filing from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The policy was introduced last year by President Donald Trump but had been blocked by a federal judge.

It is the latest step in the administration's sweeping immigration crackdown.

The H-1B program allows domestic employers to recruit foreign talent for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill.

The program offers 65,000 general visas annually, plus 20,000 for workers holding advanced degrees, for terms of three to six years.

Deep-pocketed technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft are the biggest users of the program, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.

China is a distant second at 11.7 per cent, according to government data.

Mr Trump first proposed payments of $100,000 ($142,000) as a presidential proclamation in September last year in an effort to prioritise American workers.

The president and other critics believe the H-1B program is exploited by companies replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labour.

The administration has since faced multiple lawsuits by labour unions, research universities and dozens of states, saying that the fee would curb US employers' ability to hire global talent, up-end the tech industry and decimate hospitals with an already fragile workforce.

In June, a federal judge blocked Trump's bid to impose the six-figure fee.

US District Court Judge Leo Sorokin concluded that it was an unlawful "tax" that required congressional approval.

The Trump administration has maintained that the fee is not a traditional tax and that courts have little power to question the president's authority to restrict ⁠entry into the country.

A Boston-based appeals court is reviewing that decision while a different court considers whether a judge properly rejected a challenge to the fee by a major business group.