Donald Trump. (File photo)
US President Donald Trump signed an announcement on Friday, which will increase the application fee for the H1-B visa to about 90 million (US $ one lakh). This step may have a profound impact on Indian employees working on work visas in America.
The Donald Trump administration said that the purpose of this decision is to ensure that the people being brought into the country are really skilled and not replacing American employees. White House Staff Secretary Will Sharf said that this step has been taken to prevent misuse of H-1B visa.
#Watch President Donald J Trump Signs an Executive Order to Raise The Fee that Companies pay to Sponsor H-1B Applicants to $ 100,000.
White House Staff Secretary will Scharf Says, “One of the most abused visa system is the h1-b non-immigrant visa program. This is supposed to pic.twitter.com/25lri4katn
– ANI (@ani) September 19, 2025
Announcement of imposing a fee of US dollars
US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) announced a fee of US $ 100,000 on the H-1B visa application. The Trump administration believes that this step will open the way of jobs for American workers. White House Staff Secretary Will Sharf stressed that the announcement would ensure that companies bring highly skilled people, which cannot be replaced by American workers.
America will get skilled workers
He said that one of the most misused visa systems is the H1-B non-immigration visa program. It is going to allow skilled workers to come to the US who work in areas where American does not work. H-1B is a non-immigration visa that allows US-based companies to appoint and employ foreign workers for jobs such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and IT.
Companies stop bringing people from outside
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said that now big tech companies or other companies will not be able to bring cheap workers by training foreign employees. They will have to pay 1 lakh dollars to the government and then the employee will also have to pay salary. In such a situation, it would be better for companies to train Americans. This policy is for the protection of American jobs, and big companies are also supporting it.
Big step to tighten the immigration
This step is being considered as a major step of administration to tighten the immigration. This can have significant impact on very dependent industries on H-1B workers. India-born people are the largest beneficiaries, who are responsible for more than 70% of all H-1B petitions approved annually since 2015.
Earlier, Florida Governor Ron Desantis criticized the H-1B visa program, calling it a scam and argued that it allows companies to replace American workers from foreigners. During an interview on Fox News on Wednesday (local time), she claimed that companies often train American workers with H-1B visa holders. Desantis said that this is unacceptable.
Criticism of H1B visa program
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik also criticized the current H1B visa program and called it a scam. In a post on X, he said that the current H1B visa system is a scam that allows foreign workers to fill American job opportunities. Keeping American workers at work should be the priority of all great American businesses. Now is the time to hire Americans.