President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Friday that imposes a $100,000 one-time fee on H-1B visas, thereby changing how foreign workers get hired within the U.S.
“The whole idea is no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee, so it’s just not [economical],” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on Friday as Trump signed the order. He added, “All of the big companies are on board.”
The $100,000 charge — a one-time fee applying only to new H-1B petitions — will take effect in the next lottery cycle. It does not apply to renewals or current visa holders, and those already on H-1B visas will not be required to pay the amount when re-entering the country, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified in an X post Saturday afternoon.
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“This is NOT an annual fee,” Leavitt said. “… H-1B visa holders can leave and re-enter the country to the same extent as they normally would; whatever ability they have to do that is not impacted by yesterday’s proclamation.”
In addition to the fee, Trump also rolled out a “gold card,” which will give wealthy individuals a pathway to citizenship.
Individuals looking to get a gold card will be charged $1 million and businesses will need to pay $2 million, according to Axios. The corporate card will let companies sponsor an employee. There will be no additional fee if the company chooses to switch the sponsorship to a different worker.
There will also be a more premium option known as the “Trump Platinum Card,” which carries a $5 million price tag and will let holders spend up to 270 days in the U.S. without being subject to taxes on non-U.S. income, Axios reported.
H-1B visas have been a major focus of the immigration debate throughout Trump’s second term. While the visas require applicants to have at least a bachelor’s degree, there are some who argue that H-1Bs are often used to hire cheap labor over American workers.
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this commonsense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages. It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told FOX Business.
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The White House said in a fact sheet that the share of IT workers with H-1B visas rose from 32% in fiscal 2003 to more than 65% in recent years. Meanwhile, the Trump administration said unemployment among computer science graduates reached 6.1% and 7.5% for computer engineering graduates.
“The H-1B program is creating disincentives for future American workers to choose STEM careers, which threatens our national security,” the White House said.
JPMorgan employees were advised by Ogletree Deakins, a company that handles visa applications for the bank, that H-1B visa holders should avoid international travel “until the government issues clear travel guidance,” according to Reuters.
Amazon reportedly posted internal guidance Friday evening with a similar warning, Business Insider reported.
“If you have H-1B status and are in the U.S.: Stay in the country for now, even if you have travel planned for the immediate future,” the company told employees, according to Business Insider. The guidance also advised H-1B and H-4 holders currently outside the U.S. to return as soon as possible. H-4 visas are for spouses of H-1B holders.
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India’s technology service industry is also expected to feel the impact of the policy shift.
“Skilled talent mobility and exchanges have contributed enormously to technology development, innovation, economic growth, competitiveness and wealth creation in the United States and India,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “Policy makers will therefore assess recent steps taking into account mutual benefits, which include strong people-to-people ties between the two countries.”
Deedy Das, partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, warned in a post on X that this “creates disincentive to attract the world’s smartest talent to the U.S.”
“If the U.S. ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy,” Das added.
FOX Business reached out to Amazon and Microsoft for comment but did not immediately receive a response. JPMorgan declined to comment.
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