By Faith Mwende
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that introduces a hefty $100,000 (£74,000) annual fee for applicants under the H-1B visa programme, which allows skilled foreign workers to work in the United States, the BBC reports.
The order, which takes effect on September 21, will apply only to new applications, but companies will be required to pay the same amount for each applicant every year for up to six years, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed.
“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,” Lutnick said, adding that major corporations were “on board” with the plan.
Previously, H-1B visas carried administrative fees totalling roughly $1,500. The new measure, which the Trump administration says is aimed at preventing “abuse” of the programme, is expected to have a major impact on employers that rely on foreign talent.
Tahmina Watson, founding attorney at Watson Immigration Law, told the BBC the order could be a “nail in the coffin” for many small businesses and start-ups, saying, “Almost everyone’s going to be priced out… Many small or medium-sized companies will tell you they actually can’t find workers to do the job.”
Jorge Lopez, chair of the immigration and global mobility practice group at Littler Mendelson PC, warned that the fee could “put the brakes on American competitiveness in the tech sector and all industries,” with some companies potentially considering relocating operations outside the US.
H-1B visas have long been a point of contention, with critics arguing they undercut American workers, while supporters – including billionaire Elon Musk – insist they help the US attract top global talent.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data cited by the BBC, applications for the next fiscal year dropped to about 359,000, a four-year low. The biggest beneficiaries of the programme last year were Amazon, followed by Tata, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google.
