The Trump administration’s sharp increase in visa fees for H-1B workers has triggered concern among US technology companies, with many considering moving more jobs overseas — the very outcome the policy aimed to prevent.US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a steep $100,000 levy for new H-1B applicants, a visa program long used by tech firms to recruit skilled workers and by international students seeking US employment after postgraduate studies.
While the fee applies only to new applicants and not current visa holders, confusion around its rollout and cost has prompted companies to pause hiring and adjust workforce plans.“I have had several conversations with corporate clients … where they have said this new fee is simply unworkable in the US, and it’s time for us to start looking for other countries where we can have highly skilled talent,” said Chris Thomas, immigration attorney at Colorado-based law firm Holland & Hart, as quoted by Reuters. “And these are large companies, some of them household names, Fortune 100 type companies, that are saying, we just simply cannot continue.”
Firms will cut H-1B workers
Previously costing employers only a few thousand dollars, the new $100,000 fee flips the equation, making hiring talent in countries like India, where wages are lower and Big Tech increasingly builds innovation hubs, more attractive.“We probably have to reduce the number of H-1B visa workers we can hire,” said Sam Liang, co-founder and CEO of AI meeting assistant startup Otter.ai.“Some companies may have to outsource some of their workforce — hire maybe in India or other countries just to walk around this H-1B problem,” he added.
Impact on startups
“Blanket rulings like this are rarely good for immigration,” said Deedy Das, partner at Menlo Ventures, which has invested in startups including AI firm Anthropic.“For larger companies, the cost is not material. For smaller companies, those with fewer than 25 employees, it’s much more significant. Big tech CEOs expected this and will pay. For them, fewer small competitors is even an advantage. It’s the smaller startups that suffer most,” he added, as reported by Reuters.Analysts warn the policy could reduce the number of talented immigrants who often go on to launch new firms. A 2022 report from the National Foundation for American Policy found that more than half of US startups valued at $1 billion or more had at least one immigrant founder.
