(Image source from: Twitter.com/RapidResponse47)
US President Donald Trump, in his recent attempts to tighten immigration rules, has signed a new order that requires a fee of $100,000 (more than Rs 88 lakh) for people applying for H-1B visas. This action could greatly affect the tech industry, which heavily depends on skilled workers from India and China.
Trump stated that this decision is intended to make sure that only individuals who are "truly very skilled" come to the country and that they do not take jobs away from American citizens. "We need employees. We need excellent employees, and this really helps guarantee that this is what will occur," he mentioned. Will Scharf, a staff secretary at the White House, noted that the H-1B non-immigrant visa program is among the "most exploited visa" systems in the current immigration framework. "This new order will increase the cost companies have to pay to sponsor H-1B applicants to $100,000. This change will assure that the individuals they are bringing in are indeed very skilled and not able to be replaced by American workers," he explained.
The H-1B visa is a temporary work permit in the US that permits businesses to employ foreign professionals with specific skills. Established in 1990, it targets individuals who have a bachelor's degree or higher in occupations that are hard to fill, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math. The visa is typically issued for an initial period of three years but can be extended for up to six years. For individuals who obtain a Green Card (permanent residency), the visa can be renewed endlessly. To apply, candidates must register online with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), after which a lottery system randomly chooses applicants. However, the Trump administration is considering additional modifications to how applications are evaluated, as reported by Bloomberg. Once approved, the visa guarantees equal pay and similar working conditions to American workers.
Indians have consistently made up the largest group of H-1B visa holders. Government statistics show that last year, India received the most H-1B visas, representing 71 percent of all approved applicants, as reported by news agency Reuters. China came second with a much smaller share of 11.7 percent. In the first half of 2025, Amazon and its cloud service division, AWS, reportedly gained approval for over 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms both received more than 5,000 approvals each. However, changes made by Trump are expected to increase the difficulties for Indians seeking a visa to the US. Although Indians can apply for a Green Card, the waiting period is often lengthy. During this waiting time, they would have to renew their visas frequently, paying over Rs 88 lakh each time. Furthermore, the US government is implementing a stricter test for those applying for citizenship - a test that Trump introduced during his presidency in 2020 but was later removed by Joe Biden. Reports indicate that applicants will need to learn from a set of 128 questions related to US history and government, and they will have to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly in an oral format.
Trump also issued an executive order for a 'Gold Card' visa program, with fees set at $1 million for individuals and $2 million for businesses. "We believe it will be very successful... It will generate billions of dollars, which will help lower taxes, pay off national debt, and achieve other beneficial goals," said the Republican leader. Through the 'Gold Card' initiative, the US will restrict entry to "extraordinary individuals at the very top" who can create businesses and job opportunities for Americans, according to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. He further mentioned that the employment-based green card system is "illogical," stating that the US was bringing in "bottom quartile" individuals who made only $66,000 annually. "Historically, the employment-based green card system allowed 281,000 individuals each year. Those individuals, on average, earned $66,000 and were five times more likely to rely on government assistance programs. Therefore, we were accepting people from the bottom quartile, below the average American income level. This approach was unreasonable. The US was the only country allowing these low earners. We will put an end to that," he stated.
