President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive order imposing a $100,000 annual fee on applicants for the U.S. H-1B skilled worker visa programme. The order, which takes effect on Sunday, September 21, cites widespread “abuse” of the system and makes visa approval contingent on payment of the new fee.
Until now, the total administrative cost of obtaining an H-1B visa was roughly $1,500.
Alongside the new fee, the president also announced the launch of a “gold card” visa that promises fast-tracked processing for certain applicants, starting at $1 million.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the policy is meant to push companies to prioritise American workers.
“The company needs to decide — is the person valuable enough to justify a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or should they hire an American?” Lutnick told BBC.
He added that the annual payment would be required for six years per applicant and claimed that “all of the big companies are on board.”
Tech Sector Scrambles
The move has sent shockwaves across Silicon Valley and other industries that depend heavily on foreign talent.
Amazon, the single largest recipient of H-1B visas last year, issued an internal memo advising foreign employees already in the U.S. to stay put and urging those abroad to “return before tomorrow’s deadline if possible.” Staff were warned against attempting re-entry after the order takes effect “until further guidance is provided,” according to Business Insider.
India’s IT industry association, Nasscom, criticised the abrupt policy shift, saying it had created “considerable uncertainty for businesses, professionals, and students across the world.” India accounted for 71% of H-1B visas issued last year, followed by China with 11.7%, U.S. government data shows.
Critics Warn of Economic Fallout
Immigration experts and industry leaders fear the new fee will devastate small and mid-sized companies that rely on foreign specialists.
“This $100,000 entry point is going to have a devastating impact,” said Tahmina Watson, founding attorney at Watson Immigration Law.
“Almost everyone’s going to be priced out. Many smaller companies will tell you they simply can’t find qualified American workers for these roles.”
Jorge Lopez, chair of Littler Mendelson PC’s immigration and global mobility practice, warned that the move could hurt U.S. competitiveness.
“A $100,000 fee will put the brakes on American competitiveness in tech and beyond. Some firms may even consider relocating operations outside the U.S.,” he said.
A Long-Running Debate
The H-1B visa programme has been a flashpoint throughout Trump’s presidency. While some of his advisers support maintaining the programme to attract top global talent, others — including former strategist Steve Bannon — have pushed for tighter restrictions.
Trump has previously struck a more moderate tone, even floating the idea of offering green cards to foreign graduates of U.S. universities. However, earlier in his term, he signed an order that increased scrutiny of H-1B applications, causing rejection rates to jump from 5–8% under Obama to 24% in 2018.
H-1B visas are currently capped at 85,000 per year, and applications have fallen to a four-year low of 359,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. Despite the decline, tech giants such as Amazon, Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google remain the biggest beneficiaries of the programme.
