- What is the policy?
- The H-1B visa program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990, and it allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary status for positions in specialized occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent degree. In an effort to promote President Trump’s “America First” agenda, the current administration announced that all employers must pay a $100,000 fee for every H-1B application submitted on or after September 21, 2025. The Trump administration has argued that the H1-B visa program displaces American workers and undercuts their wages, and, in an effort to combat that, this policy aims to prioritize American workers and prevent further outsourcing of tech jobs.
- What are recent changes?
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services later issued a clarification that this rule applies only to new H1-B applications filed on behalf of beneficiaries living outside of the US or beneficiaries within the US if the application requests consular processing, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection.
- How does it impact South Asians?
- For many Indians, the H1-B visa is a tool for upward social mobility, lifting families into the middle class. International students who enrolled in school in September, right before the policy was announced, paid anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in tuition and fees and no longer have a pathway to entering the American workforce after graduation.
- This policy has a significant impact on the South Asian community as 71% of H1-B approvals in 2024 were given to workers born in India, and in every year since 2010, the majority of approvals for H-1B visas has been given to workers born in India. The new fee will likely cause intergenerational financial distress because of the disruption to families’ income sources, which have benefited from the $135 billion in remittances sent home from Indians living around the world.