Trump H-1B Visa fee – Artifex.News

What has the U.S. clarified on H-1B visas? | Explained

admin — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 18:56:00 +0000

Image used for representational purposes.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The story so far: In a softening of stricter immigration controls announced this September, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified on October 20 that current holders seeking an extension or wanting to switch their visa category would not have to pay the $1,00,000 fee to process H-1B applications. This fee would only be applicable to the new applications made after September 21 post-midnight hours in the U.S. (Eastern Time). Though the clarification does offer some reassurance, there is apprehension in various sectors, particularly the IT industry, about the Trump administration’s inward-looking policies.

What is the clarification?

The immigration services department has clarified that those seeking an extension or wanting to switch their visa category, say, from a student’s visa (categorised as F-1) to an H-1B visa, would not have to pay the processing fee. More importantly, the USCIS said the Secretary of Homeland Security could allow for an exception in certain “extraordinarily rare circumstances” wherein the applicant has been determined to serve a certain national interest, and no American is available to fill the particular role, or that making the employer pay the processing fee on the worker’s behalf would undermine the country’s interests. Homeland Security would also look to ensure the applicant does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the U.S.

What may have prompted the change?

The revised fee announced in September had caused panic not only in India. Concerns centred about the fee making it “cost-prohibitive” for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and mid-sized businesses, to hire foreign workers. Several industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce argued this went against the objective of the programme which was to ensure “businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations” in the U.S. In fact, the Chamber this month filed a legal challenge arguing that the revised fee was “unlawful” and must be structured around actual costs incurred by the government in processing visas, not otherwise. Moreover, the complainant argues that U.S. firms, particularly in manufacturing and certain STEM fields, face a shortage in finding domestic workers “qualified and available to fill the roles needed for the company to perform”. In fact, Neil Bradley, Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a blogpost, mentioned the U.S. education system has “not kept pace with the needs of businesses in this global economy”. Reflecting on an “entrenched opposition to change”, among other things, he writes, “Our nation’s failing report card in math and sciences forces business to create their own programmes to address these challenges,” he stated.

The H-1B proclamation announced in September has already had an impact on arrivals to the country. Preliminary data of the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) points to a 44% decline on a year-over-year basis in student arrivals from India for August this year. Overall, the U.S. experienced a greater than 19% decline in overseas student arrivals.

Does this open doors for Indian students?

Ajay Srivastava, founder of the India-based Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), told The Hindu that the exemption for foreign students removes a “major financial hurdle at the start of their careers”. He elaborates this would allow for a smoother movement from education to employment without the risk of or cost of leaving the country. However, Mr. Srivastava apprehends the decision earlier this month to cap international student admissions [for undergrad] to 15% of total intake with 5% from an individual country would “drastically reduce opportunities for Indian students to even enter the U.S. education system”. “This measure effectively shuts the door for many before they can benefit from the revised H-1B rules,” observed Mr. Srivastava. The proposed cap forms part of a broader 10-point memo sent by the U.S. administration to universities seeking an agreement on a broad range of issues, ranging from foreign enrolment, faculty hiring to encouraging ideological diversity, and not just “woke, socialist and anti-American ideology”.

Policy panic | Why new U.S. visa rules may benefit Indian students

Has confusion been resolved?

Notwithstanding the clarifications, the H-1B proclamation struggles with certain structural concerns. Speaking to The Hindu over email, Kate Angustia, supervisory policy and practice counsel at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), said the latest clarifications address some of the details on how the U.S. government is implementing their plan. “The USCIS update addresses when a petitioner must submit payment and what is required for petitioners. Prior to the update, these were unknown factors,” she said. Although, Ms. Angustia separately underlined there could be “confusion” with regards to determining the exceptions. “There is not a clear guidance on the standards, and this is a significant departure from the statute,” she states.

The proclamations, as was the case in September, fall amidst a larger backdrop advocating protectionism and strengthening inward-looking prospects, one of them being to tighten immigration. Ms. Angustia noted, “The broader environment is very concerning because U.S. businesses and immigration advocates know that the government could announce a new policy and create confusion again.” Back home, the Department of Economic Affairs in their monthly review for September had observed the fee could cause “disruptions” —particularly on the growth of future remittances and service trade surpluses.

Published – October 26, 2025 12:26 am IST

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce sues Trump administration over $100,000 H-1B visa fee

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 03:51:00 +0000

Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the Trump administration for imposing a $100,00 annual fee for new H-1B visa applications, claiming the fee is unlawful and would significantly harm U.S. businesses.

In a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday (October 16, 2025) in Washington D.C., the Chamber asks the court to declare that President Donald Trump exceeded the executive branch’s authority by imposing the fee and bloc federal government agencies from enforcing it.

H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find hard to fill and are primarily associated with tech workers from India. Big tech companies are the biggest user of the visa, and nearly three-quarters of those approved are from India. But there are critical workers, like teachers and doctors, who fall outside that category.

The Trump administration announced the fee last month, arguing that employers were replacing American workers with cheaper talent from overseas. Since then, the White House has said the fee won’t apply to existing visa holders and offered a form to request exemptions from the charge.

In its lawsuit, the Chamber argues that the new fee violates the immigration laws that govern the H-1B program, including the requirement that fees be based on the costs incurred by the government in processing visas.

“The President has significant authority over the entry of noncitizens into the United States, but that authority is bounded by statute and cannot directly contradict laws passed by Congress,” according to the complaint, which names the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and their respective cabinet secretaries as defendants.

Prior to Mr. Trump’s proclamation imposing the new fee, most H-1B visa applications cost less than $3,600, according to the Chamber.

“If implemented, that fee would inflict significant harm on American businesses, which would be forced to either dramatically increase their labor costs or hire fewer highly skilled employees for whom domestic replacements are not readily available,” according to the complaint.

The new fee is scheduled to expire after a year, but could be extended if the government determines that is in the interest of the United States to keep it.

Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out through lottery. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers.

Critics say H-1B spots often go to entry-level jobs, rather than senior positions with unique skill requirements. And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.

Published – October 17, 2025 09:21 am IST

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How Trump’s H-1B fee threatens India’s IT firms and Big Tech business models

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Trump administration has deployed a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas, a move designed to obliterate the business models of India’s IT giants and Big Tech’s wage arbitrage schemes while leaving America’s universities and startups standing. Whether this crude instrument will achieve its intended effect without inflicting collateral damage on America’s innovation ecosystem remains an open question.

The policy addresses a genuine issue as H-1B workers now account for 65% of America’s IT workforce, up from 32% in 2003. This surge did not just occur because of a shortage of American talent. The administration notes that computer science graduates face unemployment rates of 6.1%, while their peers in computer engineering struggle with 7.5% joblessness. Meanwhile, some technology firms filed over 10,000 H-1B applications in fiscal 2024 alone, often in the same years they conducted mass layoffs of American workers.

The outsourcing reckoning

After a back and forth over the weekend, the Trump administration has confirmed that the fee will apply only to new visa applications. Still, this will devastate India’s IT services industry. Companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro have built empires on a simple arbitrage: import Indian engineers willing to work for substantially less than their American counterparts. Their business model depended on H-1B visas costing a few thousand dollars in filing fees, making it economical to flood the system with applications and cherry-pick the most cost-effective workers.

At $100,000 per visa, this lottery system becomes prohibitively expensive. Indian IT firms face a stark choice: raise prices dramatically or retreat to offshore delivery models. Either option undermines their competitive position against American rivals, though the latter may paradoxically accelerate job losses as entire functions migrate overseas rather than remaining onshore with H-1B workers.

American technology companies will face their own reckoning. The minimal cost of H-1B applications previously allowed HR departments to treat visa petitions like lottery tickets. Now each hire becomes a significant capital allocation requiring executive approval. This should naturally filter applications toward genuinely exceptional candidates with irreplaceable skills, which was the programme’s original purpose.

An innovation exodus

Yet the policy’s collateral damage may prove severe. International students contribute over $40 billion annually to America’s economy, with more than half pursuing STEM fields. These represent the world’s intellectual elite, individuals who have already demonstrated commitment to American institutions through years of study and substantial financial investment.

The $100,000 fee signals that their post-graduation prospects in America have dimmed considerably. Countries like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom have crafted sophisticated strategies to attract precisely these individuals. As America raises barriers, competitors lower them, potentially capturing the talent that will drive the next decade’s technological breakthroughs.

The timing seems particularly unfortunate. China’s growing technological prowess and geopolitical tensions have intensified competition for global talent. Pushing the world’s brightest minds toward rival nations does not eliminate security risks, but merely transfers competitive advantages to America’s competitors.

A blunt instrument

The policy’s design reflects a preference for simplicity over sophistication. Rather than treating all H-1B applications equally, a more nuanced approach might have created graduated fees based on salary levels, exempted graduates from elite American universities, or established lower rates for workers in cutting-edge research fields.

Such refinements could have maintained the policy’s effectiveness against labour arbitrage while preserving America’s ability to attract exceptional talent. The current approach resembles using a sledgehammer where a scalpel might suffice.

The broader implications extend beyond immigration policy. America’s post-war dominance in science and technology rested partly on its ability to attract and retain global talent. The H-1B programme, whatever its flaws, served as one mechanism for this attraction. By making the programme prohibitively expensive for most employers, the administration risks severing connections between American institutions and international talent pools.

Unintended consequences

The policy may also accelerate trends it ostensibly seeks to reverse. If American companies cannot economically hire foreign workers for onshore roles, they may shift entire operations overseas. This could reduce employment opportunities for American workers rather than increasing them.

Similarly, the fee structure may inadvertently benefit the largest technology companies at smaller firms’ expense. Google or Microsoft can absorb $100,000 fees more easily than startups or mid-sized companies, potentially concentrating talent among established players rather than distributing it throughout the innovation ecosystem.

The administration’s approach reflects a broader philosophical shift from balancing corporate needs with talent attraction toward prioritising domestic workers. This addresses legitimate concerns about wage suppression and worker displacement. However, immigration policy operates in a global context where other nations compete aggressively for the same talent America now seems increasingly reluctant to welcome.

The irony is stark: having spent decades building the world’s most attractive higher education system and innovation ecosystem, America now risks gifting its carefully cultivated advantages to competitors through self-imposed barriers. Whether the benefits of reduced labour arbitrage will outweigh the costs of diminished talent attraction remains unclear. What seems certain is that other nations stand ready to welcome the exceptional individuals America may no longer want.

For global Big Tech and Indian IT firms, the $100K will clearly make them put their house in order and re-evaluate how they plan to hire and deploy human resources in the coming months.

Published – September 22, 2025 09:30 am IST

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TCS second-highest beneficiary of approved H-1B visas after Amazon: USCIS data

admin — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 06:04:00 +0000

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with over 5,000 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon, according to federal data.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Amazon had 10,044 workers using H-1B visas as of June, 2025. Coming in at the second spot was TCS with 5,505 H-1B visas approved.

Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).

In a move that could significantly impact Indian IT and professional workers in the U.S., the Trump administration announced a staggering annual fee of $1,00,000 on H-1B visas, a move it said aims to check the “systemic abuse” of the programme.

In July, USCIS had said that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ on Friday (September 19, 2025) that will restrict entry into the United States of individuals as non-immigrants unless their H-1B petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $1,00,000.

The proclamation said the restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation of September 21, 2025.

The proclamation said that the number of foreign STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) workers in the United States has more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing from 1.2 million to almost 2.5 million, while overall STEM employment has only increased 44.5% during that time.

Among computer and math occupations, the foreign share of the workforce grew from 17.7% in 2000 to 26.1% in 2019. The key facilitator for this influx of foreign STEM labour has been the abuse of the H-1B visa, it said.

The proclamation added that Information technology firms have “prominently manipulated” the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.

The share of IT workers in the H-1B programme grew from 32% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 to an average of over 65 per cent in the last 5 fiscal years. In addition, some of the most prolific H-1B employers are now consistently IT outsourcing companies.

Using these H 1B-reliant IT outsourcing companies provides significant savings for employers, it said, as it cited a study of tech workers that showed a 36% discount for H-1B “entry-level” positions as compared to full-time, traditional workers.

To take advantage of artificially low labour costs incentivised by the programme, companies close their IT divisions, fire their American staff, and outsource IT jobs to lower-paid foreign workers, it said.

The proclamation cited data that said many American tech companies have laid off their qualified and highly skilled American workers and simultaneously hired thousands of H-1B workers.

One software company was approved for over 5,000 H-1B workers in FY 2025; around the same time, it announced a series of layoffs totalling more than 15,000 employees. Another IT firm was approved for nearly 1,700 H-1B workers in FY 2025; it announced it was laying off 2,400 American workers in Oregon in July.

A third company has reduced its workforce by approximately 27,000 American workers since 2022, while being approved for over 25,000 H-1B workers since FY 2022.

A fourth company reportedly eliminated 1,000 jobs in February; it was approved for over 1,100 H-1B workers for FY 2025, the proclamation said.

Published – September 20, 2025 11:34 am IST

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U.S. President Trump says abuse of H-1B programme a ‘national security threat’

admin — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 05:30:00 +0000

U.S. President Donald Trump said abuse of the H-1B programme is a national security threat as he signed a proclamation restricting entry of certain non-immigrant workers and imposing a staggering annual $1,00,000 fee on the visas used by companies to hire workers, including from India, to live and work in the U.S.

Mr. Trump on Friday (September 19, 2025) signed the proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricts the entry into the U.S. of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $1,00,000.

“The H-1B non-immigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the United States 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.

“The abuse of the H-1B programme is also a national security threat. Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money… and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the United States,” he said in the proclamation.

Mr. Trump said that it is necessary to impose higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B programme in order to address the abuse of that programme while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers.

“The severe harms that the large-scale abuse of this programme has inflicted on our economic and national security demand an immediate response. I therefore find that the unrestricted entry into the United States of certain foreign workers” would be detrimental to the interests of the United States because such entry would harm American workers, including by undercutting their wages,” the proclamation said.

Mr. Trump ordered that the Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a $1,00,000 payment for H-1B speciality occupation workers, who are currently outside the United States, for 12 months following the effective date of the proclamation, which is September 21, 2025.

The Secretary of State shall also issue guidance, as necessary and to the extent permitted by law, to prevent misuse of B visas by alien beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions that have an employment start date beginning prior to October 1, 2026.

It said the restrictions shall not apply to any individual or those working for a company or in an industry, if it is determined that the hiring of such individuals to be employed as H-1B speciality occupation workers is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State shall coordinate to take all necessary and appropriate action to implement this proclamation and to deny entry to the United States to any H-1B non-immigrant for whom the prospective employer has not made the payment.

The restriction on entry shall apply only to those individuals who enter or attempt to enter the United States after September 21, 2025.

Mr. Trump said the large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the programme has undermined both American economic and national security.

“Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labour market for American citizens, while at the same time making it more difficult to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers, with the largest impact seen in critical science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields,” Mr. Trump said.

The proclamation said that Information technology firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.

Noting that the share of IT workers in the H-1B programme grew from 32% in Fiscal Year 2003 to an average of over 65% in the last 5 fiscal years, the proclamation said that some of the most prolific H-1B employers are now consistently IT outsourcing companies.

It said that abuse of the H-1B visa programme has made it even more challenging for college graduates trying to find IT jobs, allowing employers to hire foreign workers at a significant discount to American workers.

The proclamation cited high unemployment rates among computer science and computer engineering majors and said many American tech companies have laid off their qualified and highly skilled American workers and simultaneously hired thousands of H-1B workers.

The proclamation also cited the example of a software company that was approved for over 5,000 H-1B workers in FY 2025, and which, around the same time, announced a series of layoffs totalling more than 15,000 employees.

It also said that American IT workers have reported they were forced to train the foreign workers who were taking their jobs and to sign nondisclosure agreements about this “indignity” as a condition of receiving any form of severance.

Published – September 20, 2025 11:00 am IST

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Trump to sign proclamation imposing $1,00,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, says White House official

admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 20:30:00 +0000

U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to sign a proclamation as early as Friday restricting entry under the H-1B visa program unless the fee is paid. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a proclamation that will require a $1,00,000 application fee for H-1B visa applications, among other changes to the programme for highly skilled foreign workers that has come under scrutiny by the administration, according to a White House official.

The Republican President was expected to sign a proclamation as early as Friday (September 19, 2025) restricting entry under the H-1B visa program unless the fee is paid, said the official. Mr. Trump also planned to order changes to the prevailing wage levels for the H-1B programme as a way to limit their use, the official added.

The proposed proclamation was first reported by Bloomberg News.

H-1B visas are meant to bring the best and brightest foreigners for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill with qualified U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The programme instead has turned into a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is far less than $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

The program was created in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in fields where jobs are deemed hard to fill, especially science, technology, engineering and math. Critics say they allow companies to pay lower wages with fewer labor protections.

Historically, these visas — 85,000 per year — have been doled out through a lottery system. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

(With inputs from Reuter, AP)

Published – September 20, 2025 02:00 am IST

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