US Prez Trump tightens H-1B visa rules, introduces $100,000 annual fee

Washington: In a major setback for Indian tech professionals working in the United States and top tech companies, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa programme.

According to the proclamation, every application will now require a fee of $100,000 per year – an attempt to curtail the overuse of the visa programme and encourage hiring of domestic workers.

Signing the proclamation on Friday, at the White House, 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

Lutnick also confirmed that the visa can be renewed only for a total period of six years and will be applicable for both new and renewal applications.

“So, either the person is very valuable to the company and America, or they’re going to depart. Stop the nonsense of letting people just come into this country on these visas that were given away for free,” he added.

The proclamation claimed that the H1-B visa programme has been “deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor” and is undermining both “our economic and national security.”

According to the order, the Secretary of Labor will initiate a rulemaking to revise the prevailing wage levels as well.

Both Trump and Lutnick asserted that all major tech companies are “on board.”

“They love it. They really love it. They need it. I think they’re going to be very happy. Everyone’s going to be happy. And we’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people,” Trump added.

President Trump also signed an executive order creating a gold card programme that would enable people to obtain a visa for $1 million and corporations for $2 million.

The H-1B visa programme, capped at 85,000 new visas annually, allowed US companies to hire skilled foreign workers in fields like technology and engineering. The latest move is expected to impact major American tech companies as well.

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 a high number of skilled immigrants from India.

In August, the Department of Homeland Security proposed changes to the existing system by eliminating the lottery set up with a “weighted selection process.”

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) also intensified its scrutiny of hiring practices under the H-1B visa program, calling on workers and employers to report instances where US citizens are unfairly overlooked in favour of foreign visa holders. The initiative is being led by Harmeet Dhillon, the India-born Assistant Attorney General of Civil Rights at the DoJ.

Dhillon announced in August that the department has opened “several” investigations and taken action against “some” employers already. “Send us your leads,” she urged Americans to reach out on DoJ hotline.

In December 2024, after the elections, Trump had endorsed the H-1B visas, saying he’s a “believer” in the program and had used it himself in the past.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he had said.

Trump weighed in after opposition over H-1B visas from far-right activists. Tesla CEO and former Trump aide Elon Musk had also vowed to go to “war” to defend H-1B visas.

IANS