A federal judge has blocked US President Donald Trump’s controversial $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, dealing a setback to the administration’s efforts to tighten immigration rules for foreign workers.According to US media reports, District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the administration lacked the authority to impose the fee, finding that the measure effectively functioned as a tax that required approval from Congress.President Donald Trump had in September last year imposed an annual fee of $100,000 on H-1B visas, raising it from the earlier levels of around $2,000.The proclamation was described as one of the most consequential changes to America’s immigration system in recent years. It even termed H-1B visa abuse as a “national security threat”, citing fraud, money laundering, and organised crime by outsourcing firms.The H-1B programme, designed to allow foreign workers with specialised skills to work in the US, has long been dominated by Indian applicants, who account for nearly three-fourths of all visas issued under the category.For Indian technology workers, engineers and researchers, the fee hike represented a substantial barrier to entry and could alter the calculus for both employers and employees.