Former Infosys CFO and industry veteran Mohandas Pai on Saturday (September 20, 2025) said the U.S. move to impose a steep $1,00,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applicants will dampen fresh applications by companies and may accelerate offshoring in coming months.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation that will impose $1,00,000 annual visa fee for highly skilled workers. The H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the U.S. to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour, Mr. Trump said in the proclamation.

Dismissing the notion that companies use H-1B visas to send cheap labour to the U.S., Mr. Pai pointed out that the average salary paid by the top 20 H-1B employers exceeds $1,00,000, and criticised what he termed as misplaced “rhetoric carrying on”. An IT industry expert who did not wish to be named said that the fresh approvals for Indian tech companies ranges from 8,000-12,000 every year. The impact is not just on Indian companies but also on global tech giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft who account for significant H-1B numbers to get “the best talent” to the U.S. Fee of $1,00,000 is way too high, the source said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pai pointed out that the impact will be “limited” for now, as it only affects new applications, and existing H-1B visas are “safe”.

“It has got limited application, because…it doesn’t apply to all the H-1B visas which are already there. So there could be only impact for anybody applying in future, new applications will come down. Nobody’s going to pay $1,00,000, that is very true,” Mr. Pai told PTI.

He argued that as such H-1B wages are “not cheap”.

“People pay more than $1,00,000 as salaries, they’re not cheap. If they pay their staff $1,00,000 they charge their clients $1,50,000-1,60,000 so all this idea of sending cheap, low-skilled people, that doesn’t hold water,” Mr. Pai said.

Going forward, companies are likely to increase offshoring.

“Now what will happen is everybody will work to increase offshoring…because it doesn’t make sense, first, you don’t get talent, second the costs are too high they’ll increase offshore. That will happen over the next maybe six months to one year. So we have to wait and see what happens but right now, for 3-6 months it will not have any big impact,” he said.

Mr. Pai has, in the past, maintained that Indian IT firms’ dependence on H-1B visas has significantly decreased over a period of time, highlighting that data indicates many leading American tech companies are in fact among the top applicants for these visas.

A look at the USCIS website shows that for fiscal year 2025 (data as on June 30, 2025), Amazon topped the list of H-1B visa approvals at 10,044.

In that list of top ten beneficiaries, TCS (5,505) is at the second spot followed by Microsoft Corp. (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Cognizant (2,493), JP Morgan Chase (2,440), Walmart (2,390) and Deloitte Consulting (2,353). The top 20 list includes Infosys (2,004), LTIMindtree (1,807), and HCL America (1,728).

An industry expert noted said that the latest move by the U.S. would slow down innovation in the U.S.

The Congress has set a mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas with 20,000 additional H-1B visas for professionals who have obtained a master’s degree or higher from an accredited U.S. institution.

According to USCIS website, the H-1B programme allows employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialised knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.

Published – September 20, 2025 12:53 pm IST

Washington DC:

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed immigration hardliner and close aide, Stephen Miller, as his White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Confirming Millar’s appointment, Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday, congratulated the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy on X, calling him “another fantastic pick by the president.”

Mr Miller was part of the president-elect’s first administration and served as his senior adviser and director of speech-writing at the White House. He was also a central figure behind several of Mr Trump’s policies on immigration, including the Muslim travel ban and the 2018 family separation policy.

Miller’s Stance On H-1B Visas

Known for his extremist rhetoric, Mr Miller was a frequent presence during the president-elect’s 2024 campaign, often seen speaking at Mr Trump’s rallies. Addressing Mr Trump’s infamous Madison Square Garden rally in New York which saw an attendance of nearly 19,500 Americans, Mr Miller told the crowd that “America is for Americans and Americans only” and promised to “restore America to the true Americans”.

Last year during an interview with the New York Times, Mr Miller asserted that if Mt Trump was re-elected, his administration would bring policies to restrict legal and illegal immigration. He also talked about plans to detain undocumented immigrants in camps while they await expulsion.

During Trump’s first administration, Miller helped in drafting the Cruz-Sessions bill that prohibited international students with a master’s or bachelor’s degree from working in H-1B status in the US for at least 10 years. 

Now in his new role in Trump 2.0, Mr Miller is expected to continue his advocacy for restrictive immigration policies, including limits on H-1B visas. He argues that the H-1B program can lead to American worker displacement and wage suppression.

Trump Administration And Immigration 

Trump administration’s stance on immigration has often been at odds with economic consensus, which shows that skilled immigrants and international students benefit the US economy. As president, Mr Trump did not enact any measures to increase access to H-1B visas, and his second term will likely be similar. Policies introduced during his presidency also saw a rise in visa denial rates and a narrowing of the definition of “speciality occupation,” reducing the positions eligible for H-1B workers.

In 2020, before Mr Trump left office, his administration published a restrictive H-1B rule, which was blocked by a court for violating the Administrative Procedure Act. As per a report by Forbes, the rule included numerous provisions to prevent companies from employing foreign-born scientists and engineers, such as changing who and what positions could qualify for an H-1B speciality occupation.

Taking his previous administration’s agenda forward, Mr Trump has also appointed former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as his administration’s “Border Czar.” In a post on his Truth Social platform, the President-elect said that Homan would oversee the border security of the US along with maritime and aviation security. He also stated that Mr Homan would oversee deportation policies.

Together, Miller and Homan are anticipated to work closely in implementing the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures.

The Forbes report said that if President Joe Biden’s administration does not finalize the H-1B “modernizing” rule before he leaves the Oval Office, a new Trump administration could issue the H-1B rule with its priorities rather than those of the Biden team. 

As per the report, the new rule would likely be far more restrictive than the current H-1B regulation or what US Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed in October 2023.