Trump plans to impose an additional $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, potentially dealing a heavy blow to the tech industry.

Trump plans to impose an additional $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, potentially dealing a heavy blow to the tech industry.

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U.S. President Trump will impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, a move that will severely impact the technology industry, which heavily relies on foreign technical talent.

According to media reports on Friday, the Trump administration believes that abuse of the H-1B visa has replaced job opportunities for American workers. Trump also plans to instruct the Department of Labor to revise current wage standards for the H-1B program to limit the use of visas to suppress the wages that American workers deserve.

The H-1B program, established by Congress in 1990, is the primary pathway for highly skilled foreign workers to go to the United States. India is the biggest beneficiary of the program, accounting for 71% of approvals last year.

Due to high application demand, the program uses a lottery system to allocate quotas, and employees of universities and other non-profit institutions are generally not subject to quota restrictions. After the news came out, Cognizant, an IT services company that heavily relies on H-1B visa holders, saw its stock price drop 4.74% on Friday.

Tech Giants Face Impact

The H-1B visa program is crucial for tech and human resources outsourcing companies that need to fill a large number of technical positions.

The high cost brought by the new policy is expected to directly impact these companies' recruitment strategies and operating costs.

According to reports, Amazon, Google, and Tesla are among the largest users of H-1B visas.

According to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Amazon received more than 10,000 H-1B visa approvals in 2025, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms each received more than 5,000 approvals.

These companies mainly use H-1B visas to bring in software engineers, technical project managers, and other IT professionals from India and other countries. Visa holders can work in the U.S. for 3 to 6 years and have the opportunity to apply for a green card for permanent residency.

The U.S. H-1B program issues 85,000 visa slots each year, but the number of applications exceeds several hundred thousand, requiring a lottery to determine recipients.

Divisions within the Government

According to reports, the H-1B program has triggered divisions within the Trump administration and among its supporters.

Some supporters of the MAGA movement believe that the program allows Indian men to take high-paying technical and engineering jobs from Americans.

Joseph Edlow, the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is responsible for issuing H-1B and other visas, holds a skeptical attitude toward this program.

Under Edlow's leadership, the agency previously prepared to issue new regulations giving priority to visa applicants with higher salaries, but it was reported that in the end, the White House shelved this regulation.

Nevertheless, some Republicans believe the program is crucial for companies to recruit the world’s top talent.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was once a strong supporter of the program, but after leaving the government this spring, the program lost an important voice.

Currently, the exact method of managing and the targets of the $100,000 fee are unclear, and the legality of the policy may also face challenges.

Normally, a new visa fee must be set by Congress or imposed through a formal rulemaking process, the latter usually requiring several months of public notice and comment.

Implementing it directly via presidential proclamation may trigger lawsuits.

According to current regulations, H-1B applicants must pay a small fee to enter the lottery system, and the winners pay a higher fee to submit complete application materials.

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