In a sweeping move that could severely affect Indian professionals working in the United States, President Donald Trump on Friday, September 19 signed a proclamation raising the annual fee for H-1B visas – meant for temporary employment in specialist occupations – to USD 100,000. This shift could significantly impact the tech sector, heavily reliant on skilled workers from India and China.
Employers will now face the choice of covering the $100,000 annual H-1B fee for each foreign worker or opting to hire an American employee instead.
The decision, announced at the White House, is the latest in the administration’s push to tighten immigration rules and prioritise American workers.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf described the H-1B programme as “one of the most abused visa systems” in the US “It is supposed to allow highly skilled labourers to come into the United States in fields that Americans don’t work in. The new fee will ensure that companies bring in only those who are actually very highly skilled,” he said.
Trump, signing the order in the Oval Office alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said the measure was designed to guarantee that “great workers” come into the country without displacing Americans. “We need workers. We need great workers. And this ensures that’s what’s going to happen,” the President said.
H-1B visas, issued for three years and renewable once, are capped at 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with an additional 20,000 visas reserved for advanced degree holders from US universities. Demand consistently exceeds supply, prompting the government to conduct a lottery. According to Pew research, Indians received 71% of approvals last year, followed by Chinese applicants at 11.7%.
Employers currently pay multiple fees when sponsoring H-1B workers. These include a USD 215 registration fee and a basic filing fee ranging from USD 460 for small employers and nonprofits to USD 780 for larger companies. Additional costs cover training (USD 750–USD 1,500), fraud prevention (USD 500), and optional premium processing (USD 2,805). Large employers may also pay USD 4,000 under Public Law 114-113, while asylum program fees range from USD 0 for nonprofits to USD 600 for bigger companies.
The USD 100,000 fee will apply to both new H-1B applications and renewals. Given that the visa is valid for three years and extendable to six, companies could end up paying as much as USD 600,000 per worker if they choose to retain them through the period.
The order however says the White House can grant exemptions. It further said, “The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”
Lutnick added that the new policy would raise more than $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury and cut down on what he called “illogical” inflows of workers earning below the American average. “We’re going to stop taking the bottom quartile. Instead, we’ll take extraordinary people who will create businesses and jobs for Americans,” he said.
“Big tech companies can no longer cheaply train foreign workers. They’ll have to decide whether someone is worth USD 100,000 a year to the government, or else hire an American,” Lutnick said.
Alongside the proclamation, Trump also unveiled a new “Gold Card” visa category for foreigners of “extraordinary ability.” Under the programme, individuals contributing USD 1 million to the U.S. Treasury or USD 2 million if sponsored by a corporation, would be eligible for expedited visas and a pathway to permanent residency.
“We think it’s going to be a fantastic thing. We’ll take that money to reduce taxes and debt,” Trump said, insisting that corporate leaders supported the overhaul. “They love it. They really love it.”