President Donald Trump on Friday introduced that the payment employers should pay for an H-1B visa can be raised to $100,000.
Firms scrambled to reply, CNBC reported Saturday, and social media customers are posting about what this variation means for H-1B visa staff.
Here is a breakdown of the brand new H-1B charges:
What did Trump change?
As of Sunday, H-1B visa purposes would require a $100,000 fee. Beforehand, visa charges ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 per utility, relying on the scale of the corporate, based on the Immigration Regulation Group.
Employers now will need to have documentation of the fee previous to submitting an H-1B petition on behalf of a employee. Candidates may have their petitions restricted for 12 months till the fee is made, based on the White Home.
Who does this have an effect on?
The payment can be utilized solely to new H-1B candidates, not renewals or present visa holders, and can be carried out within the upcoming lottery cycle, based on White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Those that have already got H-1B visas and are situated outdoors the U.S. is not going to be required to pay the payment with the intention to reenter, she stated.
Leavitt additionally clarified that the $100,000 is a one-time fee and never an annual cost, after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated Friday that the payment can be annual.
Exceptions may be made for any immigrant whose employment is deemed important within the nationwide curiosity by the Secretary of Homeland Safety and doesn’t pose a risk to the safety or welfare of the U.S., based on the White Home.
Workers with B visas who’ve begin dates previous to October 2026 will obtain further steerage with the intention to forestall these short-term enterprise visas getting used as a workaround for H-1B visas, the White Home stated.
Who’re these staff and why are they wanted?
H-1B visas are designed to enable extremely expert overseas professionals to work in specialty occupations when employers cannot discover certified American staff to fill the roles. Many roles within the fields of science, expertise, engineering and math, or STEM, that usually require at the least a bachelor’s diploma qualify.
Firms within the tech and finance sectors rely closely on these specifically expert immigrants, notably from India and China, which accounted for 71% and 11.7% of visa holders final 12 months, respectively, based on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers.
What number of H-1B visas does the tech trade use yearly?
The present annual cap for H-1B visas is 65,000, together with a further 20,000 visas for overseas professionals with a grasp’s diploma or doctorate from a U.S. establishment, based on USCIS. A lottery system is used to pick further petitions if demand exceeds the cap.
Since 2012, about 60% or extra of accepted H-1B staff had computer-related jobs, based on Pew Analysis.
Amazon was the highest employer for H-1B holders in fiscal 12 months 2025, sponsoring greater than 10,000 candidates by the top of June, based on USCIS. Microsoft, Meta and IT firm Tata Consulting Providers had greater than 5,000 every, whereas Apple and Google rounded out the highest six with greater than 4,000 approvals every.
WATCH: CoreWeave CEO on H-1B visas: Further payment is ‘sand within the gears’ for entry to expertise
