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The new fee hits Indians hardest, but experts warn it also undercuts America’s innovation edge, hurting startups, Big Tech, and research labs that depend on global talent
Trump H1-B Visa News: US President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order on gold card visa in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that fundamentally alters the H-1B visa regime. Starting this year, anyone applying for an H-1B visa must pay a $100,000 fee every year for their application to be processed. The rule applies to both new applications as well as any petitions that supplement existing ones.
The administration claims the move will protect American jobs and ensure only the “most skilled” foreign workers enter. But the sharp increase is set to hit Indians the hardest. India accounts for the overwhelming majority of H-1B holders, and the new costs could reshape hiring patterns in both Silicon Valley and Indian IT.
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What Has Trump Announced On H-1B Visas?
The new rule mandates a $100,000 annual fee for all H-1B petitions, including renewals. Employers must show proof of payment, and the Department of State or Homeland Security will reject petitions that do not include it.
Until now, companies paid just $215 to register for the visa lottery and $780 for the employer petition. Under the new system, sponsoring a worker could cost as much as $300,000 over a typical three-year H-1B term.
Exceptions will be rare, limited to cases deemed in the “national interest”. The proclamation also makes clear that applications from abroad without proof of payment will be denied.
Why Indians Will Be The Most Hit
Indians dominate the H-1B program. Roughly 71–73 per cent of all approvals in recent years have gone to Indians, compared with 11–12 per cent for China. In FY 2023, India received 191,000 H-1B visas; in FY 2024, that rose to about 207,000. That means over 200,000 Indian professionals currently on H-1Bs could be directly impacted.
The financial exposure is staggering. Even if a conservative 60,000 Indians are hit immediately, the annual burden is $6 billion (about Rs 53,000 crore). A full sweep could push India’s annual bill to Rs 1.8 lakh crore.
For individuals, the math is even harsher. A mid-level Indian engineer in the US earning $120,000 annually would see the $100,000 visa levy swallow over 80 per cent of their pay, making migration unviable for all but the highest-paid.
Indians also dominate the pool of international students in the US who transition to H-1Bs after completing a master’s or PhD. For them, the six-figure levy could shut the door on career prospects in America.
How US Tech And Indian IT Firms Are Affected
The impact will ripple across industries. Indian IT consultancies such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Cognizant have historically relied on H-1B visas to post thousands of engineers onsite at American client locations. This delivery model is now under strain: the $100,000 levy makes it prohibitively expensive to send junior or mid-level staff to the US.
“Companies will be forced to rethink their operating model. More work will shift back to India or to near-shore hubs in Canada and Mexico,” said a senior executive at a Bengaluru-based IT firm.
The Trump administration insists the fee is both justified and widely accepted. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed that “all the big companies are on board” but American big tech players are equally exposed. According to Reuters, in just the first half of 2025, Amazon and AWS secured approvals for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta each cleared over 5,000.
The exposure extends well beyond tech. Bloomberg recently reported that banks such as Citigroup and Capital One, along with telecom giants Verizon and AT&T, have quietly become some of the largest end-users of H-1B contractors. For these companies, the $100,000 fee is not an easy compromise but a direct threat to critical talent pipelines in cloud computing, AI, and semiconductors.
Startups and research labs, which rely on attracting niche talent from abroad, may find it nearly impossible to justify the new costs.
The legality of the levy is also contested. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted that “Congress has only authorised the government to set fees to recover the cost of adjudicating an application,” questioning whether a six-figure charge can withstand legal scrutiny.
What Is The Rationale Behind The Fee Hike?
The White House frames the move as a job protection measure. Staff secretary Will Scharf described H-1B as “one of the most abused visa systems” and argued the fee will ensure only genuinely highly skilled professionals are brought in.
Howard Lutnick was more blunt: “No more will big tech companies train foreign workers at low cost. They have to pay the government $100,000 and then pay the employee. It’s simply not economical. The priority now is to train Americans from our universities and stop outsourcing jobs.”
Trump himself said the step would “reduce overuse” of the program, insisting companies should “train one of the recent graduates from the great universities across our land” instead of hiring cheaper foreign talent.
How This Fits Into Trump’s Wider Immigration Crackdown
The H-1B order is part of a broader immigration overhaul Trump has pursued since taking office in January. The administration has already rolled out other sweeping changes that reshape how foreigners enter and work in the US.
One is the so-called “Gold Card” visa, an investor scheme designed to attract ultra-wealthy applicants. Under the order, permanent residency can be granted to individuals who invest $5 million or more, or to companies that pay $2 million to fast-track a sponsored worker. Critics say the plan effectively sells green cards to the rich, even as restrictions tighten for skilled professionals.
Another is the rollback of pandemic-era interview waivers. Since 2 September, nearly all non-immigrant visa applicants have been asked to attend in-person consular interviews, adding delays to an already backlogged system and making routine renewals more cumbersome.
Put together, the three steps — the $100,000 H-1B fee, the end of interview waivers, and the Gold Card residency scheme — signal a consistent philosophy: make entry tougher for skilled workers and students while easing pathways for wealthy investors.
What Happens Next For Indian Workers And US Companies?
The United States issues 85,000 H-1Bs annually through a lottery, 65,000 general and 20,000 for advanced degree holders. With the new $100,000 fee, the lottery may see fewer applications, as smaller firms and new graduates pull back.
For Indian workers already on H-1Bs, the same annual charge will also apply at renewal. Lutnick even suggested the levy could be imposed each year of a visa’s validity, meaning a single worker might cost an employer as much as $300,000 over a three-year term. That prospect could force some to return home, disrupt career plans, and make the path to green cards even steeper.
Large employers may selectively sponsor only the most specialised, high-paying roles. That would narrow opportunities for Indian juniors, while reinforcing wage-based prioritisation.
The levy could transform H-1B from a broad skilled-worker pathway into an exclusive channel for only the most highly specialised and well-paid jobs.
The Bottom Line
With Indians holding nearly three-quarters of these visas, they stand to lose the most, whether through fewer opportunities, prohibitive costs, or disrupted career paths.
The policy may raise short-term revenue and appeal to domestic workers. But eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman told Reuters it risks “taxing away [America’s] innovation edge,” while Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das warned on X that imposing such fees will deter top global talent. Together, their concerns underscore fears that the measure could ultimately push more jobs offshore, hurting both the US economy and the Indian professionals who have long powered its growth.
About the Author
Amit Shukla, Executive Editor at CNN-News18, heads the Input Desk, overseeing news gathering, editorial planning, and news coordination.
Amit Shukla, Executive Editor at CNN-News18, heads the Input Desk, overseeing news gathering, editorial planning, and news coordination.
September 20, 2025, 08:58 IST
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