Trump imposes USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas; how will it impact Indian workers in US?
The move will force companies to be more selective about which positions warrant H-1B sponsorship
The move will force companies to be more selective about which positions warrant H-1B sponsorship
The move will force companies to be more selective about which positions warrant H-1B sponsorship
The move will force companies to be more selective about which positions warrant H-1B sponsorship
US President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation, increasing the fee for H1-B visas to a staggering USD 100,000 annually, a move that will alter how American companies hire skilled foreign workers.
The companies will have to pay this fee on top of the existing vetting charges, though the administration still deciding whether to collect the full amount upfront or annually.
According to the White House officials, that the move was aimed at ensuring that the people being brought into the country are actually very highly skilled and do not replace American workers.
“We need workers. We need workers. We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that's what's going to happen,” Trump said while signing the proclamation.
Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick termed the move as a deliberate strategy to eliminate “lower-skilled training positions” while preserving opportunities for highly skilled workers.
"No longer will you put trainees on an H-1B visa - it's just not economic anymore," Lutnick said. "If you're going to train people, you're going to train Americans,” he said.
"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 USD 100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So it's just not economic. If 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,” said the Commerce Secretary.
How it affects India
The Indian nationals receive the majority of H-1B approvals in the US. The new move could have an impact on Indians on work visas in the US on whether they can continue to stay in the US if their companies decide not to pay the USD 100,000 fee annually now required to retain the visas.
The substantial cost will force companies to be more selective about which positions warrant H-1B sponsorship, reducing overall applications.
Trump’s decision is also likely to impact Indian IT services companies like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro, which have traditionally used H-1B visas to bring junior and mid-level engineers to the US for client projects and skills development.