The White House has clarified the administration’s order on the H-1B visa fee that has been introduced.
The executive order that set a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas took effect on Sunday at 12:01 a.m. and is supposed to be in force for a year. However, the administration could determine that it wants to extend the new rule after that time.
After the announcement caused considerable alarm, the administration took to social media to clarify the increased feed and how immigrants working in the United States may be affected.
“Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.
Implications for employees
But, for immigration attorneys, businesses that employ high numbers of H-1B Visa holders and immigrants themselves, the administration’s clarification does not offer much consolation.
Usually, the H1-B visa is used for high-skilled jobs at businesses such as tech companies. Opponents of the program argue that it undercuts American workers because employees overseas are often willing to perform the same work at significantly lower salaries.
While Trump asserted that the tech industry wouldn’t frown upon the fee change, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who was at Trump’s side at the signing of the order, said that “all big companies” are on board with the change.
“We’re concerned about the impact on employees, their families and American employers,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. “We’re working with the Administration and our members to understand the full implications and the best path forward.”
Lutnick has said that the increased fee will likely reduce the number of people seeking the visa because “it’s just not economic anymore.”
Still, the move appears to be a way to force employers to choose American workers ahead of immigrants.
“If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans,” Lutnick said. “If you have a very sophisticated engineer and you want to bring them in … then you can pay $100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”
This year, Amazon was the largest recipient of H-1B visas, which are issued through a lottery process. The e-commerce company was granted 10,000 visas. Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google followed.
Critics of the lottery claim that companies use the H-1B to hire for entry-level jobs instead of senior or more advanced positions that require unique skillsets; or they employ highly-skilled workers and purposely misclassify the positions.
Other companies hire recruiting companies in other countries that hire foreign workers for much less than the cost of hiring American workers.
