How Trump's $100,000 Fee On H-1B Visas Impacts Indians, The Largest Beneficiaries Of The Visa
Washington D C, United States: In another effort to crack down on immigration, US president Donald Trump signed a document imposing a $100,000 (over Rs 88 lakh) fee on H-1B visa applicants, drawing both sharp criticism and applause.
The deal would arguably be a potential blow to the US tech sector, which largely relies on skilled workers from India and China. The imposition of the heavy charge on the H-1B visa applicants might alienate these people, which would make it hard to replace the workforce.
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The H-1B visa is a temporary US work visa that allows companies to hire foreign professionals with specialized skills. It was created in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in fields where jobs are deemed hard to fill, especially science, technology, engineering, and math.
According to White House staff secretary Will Scharf, the H1 B non-immigrant visa program is one of the “most abused visa” systems in the country’s current immigration system.
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He says the new deal would raise the fee that companies pay to sponsor H-1B applicants to $100,000, ensuring the people they’re bringing in are actually very highly skilled and that they’re not replaceable by American workers.
However, the Trump administration’s decision seems especially impactful on Indians as the majority of H-1B visa holders are from a South Asian country. India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71 percent of approved beneficiaries, while China is a distant second beneficiary with 11.7 percent.
For these very reasons, Indians trying to get a US visa are going to be the ones facing the most problems with Trump’s new changes in visa rules.
Notably, Trump had earlier signed another executive order for a ‘Gold Card’ visa program with fees set at $1 million for individuals and $2 million for businesses, which he hopes can raise billions of dollars. The Gold Cars only allow extraordinary people at the very top to come to the US who can create business and jobs for Americans, according to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
