US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that would impose a $100,000 application cost for H-1B visas, to reduce what his administration claims is excessive use of the program.
From the Oval Office, where officials described how the measure would encourage companies to hire American workers while still offering a path to hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialised fields, Trump stated, “We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that’s what’s going to happen.”
If the payment is not made with the proclamation, admission into the program will be restricted.
Trump also ordered the establishment of a “gold card” immigration pathway, which he claimed would expedite visas for specific people in return for a high fee. In addition to allowing a firm to pay $2 million to expedite the process for a foreign worker it sponsors, the proposal will expedite visas for foreigners who pay the US $1 million.
The moves are the latest in a series of initiatives by the administration to restrict immigration and impose strict new limits on the kinds of foreigners who are permitted to enter the nation. They pose a threat to sectors of the economy that rely largely on H-1B workers.
The H-1B visa is a three-year work visa that has the option of a three-year extension. According to economists, the program helps US businesses expand and stay competitive, which boosts employment in the country.
After speaking with companies, the administration arrived at the annual charge of $100,000 plus vetting expenses, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on a call on Friday.
“Whether we’re going to charge the $300,000 up front or $100,000 a year for the three years,” is still being discussed with the Department of Homeland Security, he said.
Trump’s views on the H-1B visa program have changed over time, and at times, his supporters have been divided on the matter.
Although the president has previously attacked the H-1B program and limited access to foreign worker visas during his first term, he said during the 2024 campaign that he would be amenable to granting some foreign-born workers legal status provided they graduated from a US university.
Last December, Trump also supported the program, telling the New York Post that he is “a believer in H-1B.”
“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told the outlet at the time.
Trump made these comments after entrepreneurs Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, whom he first appointed to head the Department of Government Efficiency, defended the program, drawing harsh criticism from MAGA supporters who wanted to limit immigration.
Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued, with an additional 20,000 set aside exclusively for holders of advanced degrees from US universities. A lottery system is frequently used when demand for the visa outpaces supply.
H-1B visas are frequently used by companies to help fill their positions. However, the industry most frequently linked to H-1Bs is technology. Both small and large tech companies say that they use the H-1B program to hire skilled workers that they cannot find in the US.
As part of his campaign to get US companies to hire American workers rather than foreigners, Trump has previously opposed the H-1B visa program. The president charged US companies with using H-1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay” during his 2016 campaign.
As part of his administration’s efforts to reduce legal immigration and adapt to the shifting economic conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump repeatedly limited access to H-1B visas in 2020.
Trump also announced the so-called “gold card” initiative, which aims to shift the country’s immigration balance in favour of top earners and entrepreneurs from foreign workers.
For foreigners who can afford the $1 million fee or convince their employer to spend twice as much to sponsor them, the program, which was conceived by Lutnick, will expedite entry. Lutnick said in the Oval Office on Friday that the current green card procedure for foreign workers who want to live and work in the US is causing the nation to hire the “bottom quartile” of foreign workers.
“We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top,” he said of the gold card program.