Trump proposes $100,000 fee for US H-1B visas

The Trump administration announced on Friday that it plans to charge companies “$100,000 per year” for each H-1B worker visa. This could hit the US technology sector hard, which depends heavily on skilled workers from countries like India and China.

Since taking office in January, Trump has pushed a strict immigration policy, including changes to legal immigration. The new plan for the H-1B program is the most visible attempt yet to reshape temporary work visas.

“If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” said US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The proposal has created a major conflict with the tech industry, which supported Trump financially during his campaign. Critics say the H-1B program lowers wages and leaves Americans without opportunities. Supporters, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, argue that the visa brings in skilled workers needed to fill talent gaps and keep US firms strong. Musk himself once held an H-1B visa.

According to Trump’s executive order, some employers have misused the program to suppress wages. The number of foreign STEM workers in the US more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, reaching nearly 2.5 million, while overall STEM jobs grew by only 44.5%.

Experts warn the new fees could discourage global talent. “Adding new fees creates disincentive to attract the world’s smartest talent to the US,” said Deedy Das of Menlo Ventures. Smaller firms and start-ups may suffer most, and some companies might even move work overseas, affecting America’s AI competition with China.

Analyst Jeremy Goldman said: “In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the US risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism.”

India is the largest source of H-1B workers, with 71% of approved visas in 2024. China was second with 11.7%. In early 2025, Amazon alone secured more than 12,000 visas, while Microsoft and Meta had over 5,000 each.

Lutnick claimed that “all the big companies are on board” with the $100,000 yearly visa fee. But many companies, as well as the Indian and Chinese missions in the US, did not comment.

The news also hit stock markets. Cognizant’s shares fell 5%, while Infosys and Wipro dropped between 2% and 5%.

Some experts, like Aaron Reichlin-Melnick from the American Immigration Council, questioned the legality of the fees. He said that by law, fees should only cover the cost of processing applications.

Currently, the H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually, plus 20,000 for advanced degree holders. The visas usually last between three and six years, and employers pay most of the costs, which are normally just a few thousand dollars.

On the same day, Trump also signed an order to create a “gold card,” which would grant US permanent residency to anyone willing to pay $1 million.

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