Trump sets $100 000 fee for US work visas for foreigners

The US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order revising the H-1B visa program, which allows companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers, to $100 000 per year.

Reuters writes about this.

Until now, the total amount of various fees under the H-1B program has reached approximately $1 500, writes the BBC.

This change could deal a serious blow to the technology sector, which relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.

According to government statistics, the biggest beneficiary of the program in the previous fiscal year was Amazon, followed by tech giants Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google.

Microsoft, JPMorgan and Amazon responded to the announcement by advising workers holding H-1B visas to remain in the US.

They advised workers with H-1B visas who are outside the US to return by midnight Saturday (06:00 Sunday Kyiv time), when the new payment requirements take effect.

Critics of the H-1B program, including many American tech workers, say it allows companies to undercut wages and turn away Americans who could do the job. Supporters, including Tesla CEO and former Trump ally Elon Musk, say the program attracts highly skilled workers needed to fill talent gaps and keep companies competitive.

Some employers used the program to suppress wages, putting American workers at a disadvantage, the order said.

In the United States, the number of foreign workers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields more than doubled from 2000 to 2019 to nearly 2.5 million, while overall STEM employment grew by only 44.5% during that time, the document says.

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