Every India students nourish a dream to work in America. That dream appears to have been hit hard after US President Donald Trump announced a steep increase in the H-1B visa fee, setting it at $100,000 annually (around Rs 88 lakh) per worker.
Until now, most H-1B applicants paid $215 in fees, along with an additional $750. In some cases, depending on company size and job category, the cost could climb beyond $5,000. The latest hike in H-1B visa fee pushes the fee to nearly 20 to 100 times higher translating to just under ₹9 million (₹90 lakh) at the current USD-INR exchange rate.
The Trump’s H-1B visa fee hike order is to be implemented from September 21 with the fee to be paid by employers who sponsor technically skilled overseas staff into the US.
The H-1B visa fee announcement, made on Friday, triggered huge criticism both in the US and abroad.
The Indian government officially objected to H-1B visa fee hike, issuing a statement: “The government has seen reports related to the proposed restrictions on the US H-1B visa programme. The full implications of the measure are being studied by all concerned, including Indian industry, which has already put out an initial analysis clarifying some perceptions related to the H-1B programme.”
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Saturday the US raising the annual fee for the H-1B visa to a whopping USD 1,00,000 is likely to have “humanitarian consequences” and hoped that Washington would address the “disruptions” suitably.
“This measure is likely to have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. The government hopes that these disruptions can be addressed suitably by the US authorities,” he said.
There are around 300,000 (3 lakh) high-skilled Indian workers, mostly in the technology industry, on H-1B visas currently in the US.
The H-1B visa fee hike move has divided opinion within the United States as well. Supporters argue that the H-1B system enables leading technology companies and global brands to recruit top talent from around the world, helping them remain competitive and innovative.
Critics, however, claim that corporations use the programme to hire cheaper labour from developing countries, undermining local employment opportunities and labour protections.
For Indian professionals, the announcement has been particularly alarming. The move will affect not only Indians who work in IT sector and big tech companies but also their families who rely on the stability provided by H-1B employment.
Business leaders have also voiced concerns. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk warned that targeting H-1B visa holders could damage the US technology sector arguing that the country does not have enough skilled talent to sustain growth without foreign professionals.
“The reason I’m in America, along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that make America strong, is because of H1B,” Musk wrote on X on 27 December 2024.
Sophie Alcorn, an immigration lawyer, said the move will likely “limit job mobility and make renewals costly” for thousands of Indian tech workers. She warned that “employers may hesitate to sponsor or retain H-1B employees, especially early-career professionals,” pushing some to consider moving to countries like Canada, the UK, UAE, or Saudi Arabia.
However, the Trump Administration defended the decision, saying it followed consultations with stakeholders. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said: “The company needs to decide… is the person valuable enough to have a $100,000-a-year payment to the government, or they should head home, and they should go hire an American. All of the big companies are on board.” Since 2004, the number of H-1B applications has been capped at 85,000 per year.
The supporters of the move in the US strongly feel that it is a gamble by the Administration to protect US jobs.
“The H-1B non-immigrant visa programme was created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour,” Trump said in the proclamation.
“The abuse of the H-1B programme is also a national security threat. Domestic law enforcement agencies have identified and investigated H-1B-reliant outsourcing companies for engaging in visa fraud, conspiracy to launder money… and other illicit activities to encourage foreign workers to come to the United States,” he said in the proclamation.
The White House noted that by 2000, just a decade after its launch, the H-1B programme had brought in 1.2 million foreign workers. By 2019, that number had more than doubled to 2.4 million, growing faster than the overall increase in STEM jobs. H-1B visa holders accounted for over 26 per cent of all computer and math roles. The programme also underpins higher education: A 2021 study found that more than one-fifth of US college faculty members were foreign-born.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant category introduced in 1990 to allow US employers to hire skilled foreign professionals. It is typically issued for an initial period of three years and can be extended up to six years. Every year 85,000 visas are granted through a lottery system. Indians have been the largest beneficiaries of this policy, accounting for 71 per cent of recipients in 2024. After Indians, come Chinese, at 11-12 per cent, shows US administration data.
In India, reactions have been mixed. While many view this as part of Trump’s broader anti-India stance, some argue it could reduce “brain drain” by encouraging top Indian talent to stay and work within the country.
As debates continue on both sides of the globe, the sharp escalation in visa fees marks a turning point in the US immigration policy, one that could reshape the global mobility of skilled professionals.
Shivendra Singh, vice president of Nasscom on Saturday referred the H-1B visa as a critical cog in the operations of both US and Indian companies.
“This particular move has come at a time when the technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, with AI and other front-end technologies gaining space to make the US the number one economy and the need to sustain American innovation leadership. This is something which is going to disrupt the system for some time, given the fact that not enough transition time was given. It was one day’s deadline for professionals to return,” he said.
He said: “We’ve recommended our member companies that they should make efforts to get their employees who are outside the US to return before September 21. And so that is an advice.” Nasscom believes that more consultations with the industry should have taken place before a significant move like this was put in place.
“The fact remains that Indian nationals form the bulk of H1Bs, which is around 70 per cent plus, and it goes to Indian companies, it goes a lot to the US companies as well. And Indian nationals are chosen because they have the skill set, and that is why they are in high demand from across the world,” Singh said.
