H-1B Visa Fee Hike: Who Will Be Most Affected By Trump's Immigration Policy Change?

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

The US administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas , prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the US or quickly return.

The change could deal a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.

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Since taking office in January, US President Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The step to reshape the H-1B visa programme represents his administration's most high-profile effort yet to rework temporary employment visas.

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What are H-1Bs?

The H-1B visa programme is reserved for people from other countries who are employed in specialty occupations in the United States, frequently in the technology field.

They can include software engineers, tech program managers and other IT professionals.

People in the United States on H-1Bs can extend beyond an initial six-year time frame, three years plus a three-year extension, if a green card application has been filed.

Other work programmes include H-2A visas, which are for temporary agricultural workers, and H-2B visas for seasonal non-agricultural workers.

Some analysts suggested the new fee may force companies to move some high-value work overseas, hampering America's position in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race with China.

The H-1B programme offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialised fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees. Nearly all the visa fees have to be paid by the employers.

Trump also signed an executive order on Friday to create a "gold card" for individuals who can afford to pay $1 million for US permanent residency.

What are Trump's views?

At first, Trump had said that he favours the programme."I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great programme," he told the New York Post.

However, he sought to restrict them during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021.

Critics of the H-1B programme, including many US technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs. Supporters, including Tesla CEO and former Trump ally Elon Musk, say it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive. Musk, himself a naturalised US citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa.

Some employers have exploited the programme to hold down wages, disadvantaging US workers, according to the executive order Trump signed on Friday.

The number of foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers in the US more than doubled between 2000 and 2019 to nearly 2.5 million, even as overall STEM employment only increased 44.5% during that time, it said.

Who could be affected by policy changes?

India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon and its cloud-computing unit, AWS, had received approval for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday that "all the big companies are on board" with $100,000 a year for H-1B visas.

"We've spoken to them," he said.

The Indian embassy in Washington and the Chinese Consulate General in New York also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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