President Donald Trump’s six-figure fee for workers looking to come to the U.S. with an H-1B “talent visa” may hit some of the biggest names on the Fortune 500.
The new rule, announced last week and in effect as of Sunday, adds a one-time $100,000 fee for workers applying for a new H-1B visa. The fee does not apply to renewals.
“It [visa fee hike] will force U.S. companies to radically change their hiring policies and offshore a significant amount of their work. It will also ban founders and CEOs coming to manage U.S.-based businesses,” Bier said. “It will deal a devastating blow to U.S. innovation and competitiveness.”
White House spokewoman Taylor Rogers said Trump’s six-figure H-1B visa fee is meant to protect American workers.
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages,” Rogers said.
The H-1B visa program, established under the Immigration Act of 1990, was meant for workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher with a “theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge.” More than half of these visa holders work in computer-related jobs such as engineers, analysts, or computer scientists. Many others are researchers.
