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.
Here is what we know.
Catch me up, what's the H-1B visa again?
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.
Didn't Trump already propose this?
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.
Before this proposal, standard fees ranged between $2,000 and $5,000.
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.
Mr Trump's temporary $100,000 fee increase expires in September, one year after it was issued.
According to court filings, about 70 employers had paid the fee on a total of 85 visa applications as of late February.
What is this new proposal then?
On Monday (US time), the DHS revived the proposal, submitting it online in the Federal Register to be officially published on Tuesday (US time).
From then, the public will be given a 30-day period to submit comments on the proposal.
This proposal would charge employers $103,265 for the H-1B visa applications. The cost would not apply to foreign citizens already in the US on student visas.
It must be paid before the government decides whether to approve an application.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Zach Kahler said the payments would support "immigration programs that otherwise must be funded by taxpayers".
The fee could be finalised by the end of the year.
What will the money be used for?
Revenue from the fee would be used to run the legal immigration system, a statement from the USCIS said.
The DHS estimates the proposed fee would generate approximately $US8.8 billion annually, based on a projected annual volume of 85,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions.
How will this impact Australians?
The new proposal likely won't have a big impact on Australians entering the US for work.
That is because most workers apply to enter the US via the Aussie-only E-3 visa, a special pathway introduced in 2005 after Canberra and Washington negotiated a free trade agreement.
The E-3 visa allows US employers to sponsor up to 10,500 Australians a year for work in a "specialty occupation" that only requires a university degree and pay equal or above the "prevailing wage" for the specific role.
Thousands of Australians in the US are on the E-3 visa.
Largest mass visa revocation in history
The revival of the H-1B visa isn't the only news to drop this week.
The Trump administration says it is planning to revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreigners who claim to be short-term visitors but then file for asylum to stay in the US permanently.
The State Department statement did not specify the number of visas that would be revoked in the process.
However, the Associated Press (AP) is reporting up to 200,000 foreigners could be affected.
If implemented, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in US history.
The revocations of so-called B1 and B2 visas would not necessarily result in immediate deportation, the AP report said, adding that most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be re-categorised but would lose their status as business or tourism travellers.
In a social media post on X, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau alleged that the US immigration system "has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims".
"Asylum isn't supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law," Landau wrote.
Why is the US targeting immigration?
Since Mr Trump took office for his second term his administration has aggressively cracked down on immigration in a bid to improve domestic security.
In January, the State Department paused immigrant visas from 75 countries, a ban that was struck down by a federal judge last week.
It also proposed that visa-exempt foreign tourists, including Australians, needed to disclose information about their social media accounts before being approved for travel.
The administration also moved to end birthright citizenship, although to no avail.
Rights groups say the proposed immigration changes have violated free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
