Are you safe from Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa hit? Check here

The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India as well as China.

Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The step to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration's most high-profile effort yet to rework temporary employment visas.

"If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs," U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

Who is safe from Trump's latest move?
The H-1B fee is likely to face legal challenges. But if it survives, companies that hire skilled international workers would have to pay $100,000 each year for any employee working on the visa, for up to six years. This change will affect both new applicants and those renewing their visas. The H-1B visas are approved for a period of three to six years. So, those who just got their visas are safe from this for time being.

ALSO READ: Microsoft, Amazon, TCS, Apple: Tech giants that could be hit hardest by Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee

Adding new fees "creates disincentive to attract the world's smartest talent to the U.S.," said Deedy Das, partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, on X. "If the U.S. ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy."

The move could add millions of dollars in costs for companies, which could hit smaller tech firms and start-ups particularly hard. Lutnick said the visa would cost $100,000 a year for each of the three years of its duration but that the details were "still being considered."

Under the current system, entering the lottery for the visa requires a small fee and, if approved, subsequent fees could amount to several thousand dollars.

ALSO READ: Trump imposes new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas in sweeping overhaul

Some analysts suggested the fee may force companies to move some high-value work overseas, hampering America's position in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race with China. "In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the U.S. risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism," said eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman.

A major flashpoint
Trump's threat to crack down on H-1B visas has become a major flashpoint with the tech industry, which contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.

Microsoft and JPMorgan, after the announcement of the new fees, advised employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the United States, according to internal emails reviewed by Reuters.

ALSO READ: Microsoft asks all its foreign staff to return to US by Sunday after Trump's H1-B bombshell

They also advised employees on the H-1B visas who were outside the U.S. to return before midnight on Saturday (0400 GMT on Sunday), when the new fee structures are set to take effect.

"H-1B visa holders who are currently in the U.S. should remain in the U.S. and avoid international travel until the government issues clear travel guidance," read an email sent to JPMorgan employees by Ogletree Deakins, a company that handles visa applications for the U.S. investment bank.

Critics of the H-1B program, including many U.S. technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs. Supporters, including Tesla CEO and former Trump ally Elon Musk, say it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive. Musk, himself a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa.

Some employers have exploited the program to hold down wages, disadvantaging U.S. workers, according to the executive order Trump signed on Friday.

The number of foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers in the U.S. more than doubled between 2000 and 2019 to nearly 2.5 million, even as overall STEM employment only increased 44.5% during that time, it said.

Experts believe the move is likely to be challenged in court. "I anticipate that U.S. companies reliant on skilled foreign professionals—particularly those from India—will challenge this decision in court. The American business community has considerable lobbying power, meaning the outcome hinges on more than just presidential action," said Andri Boiko, Founder &CEO, Garant In.

"The new $100,000 annual fee strikes me as both unworkable and experimental, almost as if the administration is using it to test market and political reactions. Should it go ahead, I expect tremendous pushback from the business sector."

India accounts for most H-1B visas
India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon.com and its cloud-computing unit, AWS, had received approval for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each.

Lutnick said on Friday that "all the big companies are on board" with $100,000 a year for H-1B visas.

"We've spoken to them," he said.

Many large U.S. tech, banking and consulting companies declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Indian embassy in Washington and the Chinese Consulate General in New York also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions, an IT services company that relies extensively on H-1B visa holders, closed down nearly 5%. U.S.-listed shares of Indian tech firms Infosys and Wipro closed between 2% and 5% lower.

(With inputs from Reuters)