H-1B Visa Fee only for new petitions, not renewals: White House

Washington: A day after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa programme, the White House issued a clarification to IANS on Saturday, saying that this is a “one-time fee” that applies only to new visas and not renewals or current visa holders.

“This is a one-time fee that applies only to the petition. It ONLY applies to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders. It will first apply in the next upcoming lottery cycle,” a White House official told IANS.

A White House Spokesperson also clarified to IANS that the policy would “discourage companies from spamming the system.”

“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this common-sense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages. It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system,” said Taylor Rogers, the White House Spokeswoman.

Signing the proclamation at the White House on Friday, Trump said the “incentive is to hire American workers.”

“We need workers. We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that,” Trump added.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also defended the move, saying the policy would discourage companies from hiring foreign workers.

“So the whole idea is, no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So, it’s just not economic. 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. That’s the policy here. $100,000 a year for H-1B visas,” he explained.

According to Pew Research data, India-born workers received around 73 per cent of the total approved H1-B visas in 2023, followed by China with 12 per cent, primarily due to a huge backlog in approvals and high number of skilled immigrants from India.

IANS