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Emigration and immigration

Trump Administration Raises H-1B Visa Fee to $100,000, Targets Tech Companies and Indian Workers

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The Donald Trump administration has taken a significant step to curb the abuse of the H-1B visa programme, raising the fee for such visas to $100,000 annually. According to the US government order, this move is aimed at ensuring that the people being brought into the country are "actually very highly skilled" and do not replace American workers. The H-1B visa programme, which allows temporary workers to enter the United States for high-skilled jobs, has been exploited by companies to replace American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.

Key Takeaways:

  • The H-1B visa programme has been deliberately exploited by companies to replace American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor, undermining both economic and national security.
  • The programme has been abused by IT firms, particularly those in the IT outsourcing industry, which have significantly harmed American workers in computer-related fields.
  • Between October 2022 and September 2023, 72% of the nearly 400,000 visas issued under the H-1B programme went to Indian nationals, with top Indian IT majors such as Infosys, TCS, HCL, and Wipro securing approval for approximately 20,000 employees to work on H-1B visas.
  • The $100,000 fee is aimed at ensuring that companies sponsor highly skilled workers who can pay the required fee and benefit the US economy.
  • The move is expected to significantly impact Indian technology workers who are hired by tech companies and others on H-1B visas, potentially affecting their ability to continue staying in the US.
  • The Gold Card, a new visa pathway, has been established to provide expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card for foreigners of extraordinary ability who can pay $1 million to the US Treasury or $2 million if a corporation sponsors them.
  • The programme will raise more than $100 billion for the US Treasury, which will be used to cut taxes and pay down debt.
  • The US administration is committed to hiring Americans and ensuring that immigrants who come to the country are highly skilled and valuable.

Statistics:

  • The number of foreign STEM workers in the US has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million.
  • Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7% in 2000 to 26.1% in 2019.
  • The share of IT workers in the H-1B program grew from 32% in FY 2003 to an average of over 65% in the last 5 fiscal years.
  • The new $100,000 fee is expected to reduce the number of H-1B visas issued, with some estimates suggesting a 50% reduction.

Sources:

  • [US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)]
  • [The White House]
  • [Fox News]
  • [IE Online Media Services Pvt. Ltd.]

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