North Carolina Labour Commissioner Luke Farley. Photo: Special Arrangement

The H-1B visa programme is used largely by U.S. technology companies to hire foreign workers. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there will be “a significant number of changes” in the H-1B visa process before February 2026, when the new fee of $100,000 goes into effect, as he described as “just wrong” the idea of “inexpensive” tech consultants coming into the country and bringing their families.

The Trump administration this month announced a one-time fee of $100,000 for new H-1B work visas, an order that will impact Indian professionals looking to work in the U.S. on the temporary visas.

Standing behind U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office when the H-1B proclamation was signed, Mr. Lutnick had then said that the $100,000 would be an annual fee for all H-1B visas, including renewals and first-time applicants.

Amid widespread panic and chaos, the Trump administration clarified that the new fee requirement for H-1B visas will not apply to current visa holders and is a one-time payment applicable only to new petitions.

“This procedure and process goes into effect in February of 2026, so my guess is going to be, there are going to be a significant number of changes between now and 2026,” Mr. Lutnick said on Sunday (September 28, 2025) in an interview with NewsNation.

Mr. Lutnick said that with the $100,000 fee on applications, “at least it shouldn’t be overrun with these people. But I think you’re going to see a real thoughtful change going forward. And that’s what I expect will happen.”

Questions lottery system

“There’s going to be a variety of changes; they’re talking about changes — how to get the lottery, should it still be a lottery? But that will all be resolved by February,” he said.

He said that “but as of right now”, there’s going to be a one-time fee of $100,000 to get in.

“There was a lottery. The H-1B is a lottery,” he said, adding that in his recent conversation with heads of two of the biggest tech companies in the world, “they said doing a lottery for skilled workers coming into America is ‘bizarre’.” 

Mr. Lutnick questioned why a nation should bring in skilled workers through a lottery. “That just doesn’t make any sense.”

‘Oversubscribed’

He said there is consensus that the H-1B process, which was set up in 1990 and “sort of butchered along the way”, needs to change.  He said the visas are 7-10 times “oversubscribed”, 74% of it is tech consulting. 

“H-1B visas are for tech consultants? Like, somehow, that’s important that tech consultants are onshore versus offshore. They’re all in other countries anyway,” he said, adding that about 4% of the visas were for educators and doctors. 

He added that the H-1B lottery needs to be “fixed” and the U.S. should only give “highly-skilled jobs” to the “most highly-skilled people”.

Mr. Lutnick said doctors and educators with high degrees should be able to come in but if companies want to hire engineers, they should employ only the highly paid ones. 

“The idea of having tech consultants and trainees who are inexpensive should be eliminated. I have a strong opinion that way. I think the President’s right with me on those same topics… I am completely on the view that this idea that inexpensive tech consultants should be coming into this country and bringing their families, I find it just wrong, and so it sits wrong with me,” Mr. Lutnick said.

‘Project Firewall’

This month, the U.S. Department of Labour announced the launch of ‘Project Firewall’, an H-1B enforcement initiative aimed at safeguarding the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers.

The initiative will ensure that employers prioritise qualified Americans when hiring workers and will hold employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B visa process.

“Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H1B visas at the expense of our workforce,” U.S. Secretary of Labour Lori Chavez-DeRemer had said in a statement. “By rooting out fraud and abuse, the Department of Labour and our federal partners will ensure that highly skilled jobs go to Americans first.”

Through Project Firewall, the department will conduct investigations of employers to maximise H-1B programme compliance. To achieve this goal, the Secretary of Labour will “personally certify the initiation of investigations” for the first time in the department’s history.

Violations may result in the collection of back wages owed to affected workers, the assessment of civil money penalties, and/or debarment from future use of the H1B programme for a prescribed period of time.

Published – September 30, 2025 09:58 am IST

Image for representation
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

New Delhi:

US President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship for children of temporary visa holders was a bolt from the blue for immigrants, especially Indians, in America. Although on hold for now after a legal challenge, the policy has left thousands of Indians, expecting to be parents shortly, in limbo.

For Indian professionals on H-1B visas, the impact is huge. Many assumed their US-born children would automatically get citizenship, but the order now threatens to upend those expectations.

“This impacts us directly,” said Akshay Pise, an Indian engineer in San Jose, California, whose wife, Neha Satpute, is due this month. “If the order takes effect, we don’t know what comes next – it’s uncharted territory,” he told BBC.

With their due date approaching, the couple briefly considered inducing labour early but decided against it. “I want the natural process to take its course,” said Ms Satpute. Mr Pise added, “My priority is safe delivery and my wife’s health. Citizenship comes second.”

The panic has led to reports of parents going for early C-sections to secure their child’s US citizenship. But Satheesh Kathula, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), advised against it. “In a country with strict medical laws, I strongly advise against preterm C-sections just for citizenship,” he said.

San Jose resident Priyanshi Jajoo, expecting in April, told BBC, “Do we need to contact the Indian consulate for a passport? What visa applies? There’s no clear information.”

New York-based immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta said, “US law has no provision for granting non-immigrant status to a person born here.” Without birthright citizenship, children of H-1B holders could face legal uncertainty.

Ms Satpute said the uncertainty is stressful. “Pregnancy is stressful enough, but we thought after a decade here it would get easier – then this happens on top of everything.” Her husband said they were legal, tax-paying immigrants, and the baby deserved US citizenship. 

“It’s been the law, right?” he said.

Indians, the second-largest immigrant group in the US, would be among the most affected by the order. Over five million hold non-immigrant visas, and under the new rule, their US-born children would no longer receive citizenship.

“Indians face the longest green card backlog of any nationality,” said immigration policy analyst Sneha Puri. Current laws limit green cards to 7 per cent per country, and with Indians receiving 72 per cent of H-1B visas each year, the backlog has grown to 1.1 million.

Cato Institute’s immigration director, David Bier, warned, “New Indian applicants face a lifetime wait, with 4 lakh likely to die before getting a green card.”

The order also affects undocumented immigrants, ending birthright citizenship for their US-born children, who could previously sponsor their parents for a green card at 21.

Estimates on undocumented Indians vary – Pew Research says 7.25 lakh, while the Migration Policy Institute estimates 3.75 lakh.

For Indians on H-1B or O visas, the biggest concern is their children’s future. Visa holders must leave the US for visa stamping, often facing delays. Many worry their kids will face the same struggles.

Washington:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he likes both sides of the argument on H-1B foreign guest workers’ visa, noting that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country and that he has used the programme.

“I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. But I don’t want to stop — and I’m not just talking about engineers, I’m talking about people at all levels,” Trump told reporters at the White House during a joint news conference with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman.

The president was responding to a question on the ongoing debate on H-1B visa within his support base.

While his close confidants like Elon Musk, the Tesla owner, supports H-1B visa as it brings in qualified tech professionals, many of his supporters oppose it arguing that it takes away jobs from Americans.

“We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d’, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters — you’ve got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs… they need engineers like nobody’s ever needed them,” Trump said. “So, we have to have quality people coming in. Now by doing that, we’re expanding businesses and that takes care of everybody. So I’m sort of on both sides of the argument, but what I really do feel is that we have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country. And we do that through the H-1B programme,” Trump said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Highly-skilled professionals from other countries who work in the United States will soon be able to renew their H-1B visas without having to leave the US, impacting hundreds of thousands of Indians working in specialised fields.

A year ago, the US Department of State had started a pilot project to test the process. It involved approximately 20,000 eligible participants who meet the requirements listed in the US Federal Register.

The pilot programme proved to be a success, and hence, the renewal of H-1B visas will not require the applicant to travel back to their home country for a stamp of renewal. This was a long-pending concern raised by professionals under this visa programme, most of whom are Indians. Besides the inconvenience of traveling half way around the world and spending lakhs of rupees on air tickets, the process was a tedious one involving the applicant to wait for a confirmed visa appointment which often led to long wait-times and subsequent delays.

The aim of the pilot project was to make the renewal process fast and convenient.

In the declaration made in its year-end press statement, the US Department of State said the pilot project for H-1B renewal “allowed many specialty occupation workers from India to renew their visas without leaving the United States. This pilot program streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the Department of State is working to formally establish a US-based renewal program in 2025.”

Though the new process has been confirmed to start this year, a date from which the it will officially begin is yet to be announced.

This comes at a time when there is an intense debate over the H-1B visa and its job market impact for American citizens. The hard-right have urged incoming President Donald Trump to end the programme along with his other plans of curbing immigration. Many argue that the H-1B visa holders “take away American jobs” and are a “threat to western civilisation”.

However, Donald Trump and his top officials including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have backed the H-1B visa programme saying “America needs talented people”, and the H-1B allows for the world’s top talent to live and work in the US, which helps the United States stay ahead of the global curve on technology, research, and healthcare.

India tops the list of H-1B visa holders globally, most of whom work in the tech industry, followed by medical and research. According to US State Department data from 2022, as much as 77 per cent of 3,20,000 H-1B visa applications went to Indians. In 2023 too, out of 3,86,000 visas, more than 72 per cent were issued to Indian nationals.

At 3,31,000 student visas in 2024 alone, Indians now account for the highest number of international students pursuing a professional degree or higher education in the United States.

The US State Department further said that in the last four years, visitor numbers from India have increased by five times, and more than two million Indians traveled to the United States in the first eleven months of 2024, a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
 

Washington DC:

Amid the ongoing debate over H-1B visas in the United States, the prospective applicants and their employers are bracing for the intricate costs tied to the coveted work permit, starting from fiscal year 2025. The H-1B program allows US-based companies to bring in skilled workers from abroad into certain industries, but it comes with hefty fees that vary depending on the type of petition being filed and the status of the employer.

Moreover, a new rule also came into effect in 2025 which will allow entrepreneurs to sponsor themselves for the H1B visa. This means that entrepreneurs establishing a tech company in the US can self-sponsor, provided they meet the eligibility criteria for the visa, such as having specialised knowledge.

Till now, individuals were not considered eligible for H-1B visas unless they could demonstrate employment with a sponsoring organisation. It made getting an employment permit difficult for entrepreneurs who wanted to launch their ventures independently. 

H-1B Visa Application Fee

Registration Fee: To be part of the H-1B lottery, applicants are required to pay a registration fee of $10, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2024. This marks the first step for prospective applicants during the initial registration period, which typically occurs in March each year.

Filing Fees: Further, the employers have to pay $460 as a base filing fee for all H-1B petitions. To top it, an anti-fraud fee of $500 is mandatory for all initial and change of employer petitions, to prevent fraud and misuse of the H-1B program.

Employer Surcharge: Companies with more than 50 employees, half of whom hold H-1B or L-1 visas, are required to pay a $4,000 fee under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. This surcharge remains in effect until September 30 2025.

Premium Processing (Optional): Employers who are in a rush to hire an overseas employee can opt to expedite the processing of their H-1B petitions to just 15 calendar days by paying a premium processing fee of $2,805. This service is a necessity for critical hires in time-sensitive industries.

Who Pays What?

In the H-1B visa application process, the majority of the financial burden typically falls on the shoulders of the employer. An additional $4,000 employer fee also lies squarely with them. However, there are specific rules through which visa stamping and interview-related fees may be passed on to the employees.

Total Estimated Costs

Here’s an estimated cost breakdown of the total cost of applying for an H-1B visa:

For companies not subjected to the additional $4,000 fee — $10 (Registration Fee) + $460 (Base Filing Fee) + $500 (Anti-Fraud Fee) = $970

For companies subjected to the additional $4,000 fee– $10 (Registration Fee) + $460 (Base Filing Fee) + $500 (Anti-Fraud Fee) + $4,000 (Additional Employer Fee) = $4,970

For Premium Processing– A $2,805 is added for expedited processing, bringing the total for employers opting for premium processing to $3,775 or $7,775, depending on employer status.

Debate Over H-1b Visa In US

Three weeks ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the debate on the H-1B visa program has intensified, literally creating divisions in both the Democratic and the Republican parties.

Indians are the main beneficiaries of the H-1B visas, which bring in the best of the talent and brains from across the world. Highly skilled professionals from India walk away with the overwhelming number of H-1B visas – which is Congressional mandated 65,0000 every year and another 20,000 for those who received higher education from the US.

President-elect Donald Trump has come out in support of the H-1B, and so have two of his close confidants, Tesla owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom have been tasked to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

However, they are facing a backlash from the supporters of Mr Trump who argued that this is eating away at the jobs of Americans. Moreover, on Thursday, influential Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders also asserted that the two close confidants of Trump are wrong.

“Elon Musk and a number of other billionaire tech company owners have argued that this federal programme is vital to our economy because of the scarcity of highly skilled American engineers and other tech workers. I disagree.

“The main function of the H-1B visa programme and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest’, but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labour they hire, the more money the billionaires make,” Sanders said on Thursday.

Elon Musk has received support from President-elect Donald Trump on his stance on H-1B visas, a day after the tech billionaire vowed to “go to war” to defend the programme used to bring skilled foreign workers to the US.

Mr. Musk, who along with Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has been tapped by Mr. Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued last week that foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Mr. Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla. 

Mr. Musk on Friday (December 27, 2024) blasted a user on X who used a video of Mr. Musk discussing SpaceX processes to go after the billionaire’s stance on the visa programme. 

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Mr. Musk wrote on X.

He also used a profane quote from Tom Cruise’s character in the movie “Tropic Thunder” to attack his critics.

“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” Mr. Musk said.

Trump on Saturday ( December28, 2024) sided with Musk, saying he fully backs the programme opposed by some of his supporters.

“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Mr. Trump told the New York Post newspaper.

“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 programme,” Mr. Trump said.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The tech industry has long called for more H-1B visas to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S.. Mr. Trump’s first administration restricted the programme in 2020, arguing that it allows businesses to replace Americans with lower-paid foreign workers. 

Mr. Musk, himself once on an H-1B visa and whose electric vehicle company Tesla has hired workers using the programme, defended the tech industry’s need to bring in foreign workers.

“Anyone – of any race, creed or nationality – who came to America and worked like hell to contribute to this country will forever have my respect. America is the land of freedom and opportunity. Fight with every fiber of your being to keep it that way!” he wrote on X on Friday (December 27, 2024).

Mr. Musk also lashed out at those who prioritise personal gain over the well-being of the country.

“This is the right position for those who want America to win. For those who want America to lose for their own personal gain, I have no respect. Zero,” he said in a separate post.

Mr. Musk has been consistently posting on X in favour of the programme.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” Musk wrote on December 25 on X.

Several of Mr. Trump’s supporters and immigration hardliners have been increasingly pushing for scrapping the H-1B visa programme amid debate over immigration.

The debate sparked when Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer, criticised Trump’s selection of Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Mr. Krishnan favours the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S..

Mr. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Mr. Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. The debate intensified when Mr. Ramaswamy criticised American culture for promoting mediocrity instead of focusing on academic excellence and success on the basis of merit.

“Trump’s election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritises achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness,” Mr. Ramaswamy said on Thursday (December 26, 2024).

He faced backlash for the comment.

In response, Mr. Musk called for removing “contemptible fools” from the Republican Party who oppose his immigration agenda.

Mr. Musk later clarified that his statement was addressing the “hateful, unrepentant racists” he considers a threat to the Republican Party’s future.

Elon Musk has given his not-so-polite verdict amid the ongoing online debate surrounding H-1B visa and immigration reform. In a fiery exchange with an alleged Donald Trump supporter, the Tesla boss dropped the ‘F-word’ as the conversation around the immigration policy continues to divide the GOP lawmakers and Republican voters. The billionaire was responding to a clip of him shared on X (formerly Twitter), where he discussed the limits of education with the upshot being that one should not “optimise something that shouldn’t exist”.

However, after a user named Steve Mackey used Mr Musk’s words to push the anti-H1-B rhetoric, the X boss stepped in with a flaming response.

“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” wrote Mr Musk.

“Take a big step back and F**K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” he added.

The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.

Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024

After being schooled by Mr Musk, the user attempted to pacify the situation by claiming that we was the biggest fan of the SpaceX boss

“There seems to be a lot of confusion about this interaction. I personally am the biggest fan of Elon on the planet and I always will be. I’m also capable of disagreeing with people I deeply respect and admire,” the user wrote.

Also Read | “My Stepdad Is Indian”: Elon Musk’s Ex Girlfriend Amid Racism Against Indians In US

‘Remove them, root and stem’

Notably, prior to the exchange, Mr Musk declared that “hateful, unrepentant racists” should be removed from the Republican Party “root and stem”.

Mr Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Trump’s soon-to-be-inaugurated cabinet are batting for legal immigration through H1-B visas while allies like Laura Loomer have opened a front, demanding ban on any kind of immigration.

After Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, posted that MAGA Republicans were now “taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves, Mr Musk chimed in with the response.

“Yes. And those contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem,” the X owner wrote, agreeing to Mr Adams.

The tech billionaire has long maintained that the US needs the best talent from abroad to come to America and innovate. However, his stand has put him at loggerheads with hardliner Republicans who fear that American jobs were being taken by outsiders.