Trump administration to impose a $100,000 price for H-1B visas, however now says it’s going to be a one-time cost

President Donald Trump has signed a brand new government order, which provides a $100,000 price to H-1B visa purposes. However in accordance with White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, it will not be an annual price because the administration initially stated it will be. In the course of the signing on the Oval Workplace on Friday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated a number of occasions that the price can be utilized per yr. In a follow-up X post on Saturday, nonetheless, Leavitt wrote “to be clear,” the price is just not annual however “one-time price that applies solely to the petition.”

The New York Times reported on Friday that the Secretary of Homeland Safety will limit approval for visa purposes of people who find themselves “at the moment outdoors america” until accompanied by the price, although the rule “permits case-by-case exemptions if [it’s] within the nationwide curiosity.” This new requirement will solely apply to new visa candidates, a White Home official advised The Occasions, and it’ll seemingly face authorized challenges. If it does get applied, although, it might deal an enormous blow to the tech trade.

In her publish, although, Leavitt stated, “Those that already maintain H-1B visas and are at the moment outdoors of the nation proper now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter. H-1B visa holders can depart and re-enter the nation to the identical extent as they usually would; no matter means they’ve to do this is just not impacted by yesterday’s proclamation.” She additionally wrote, “This is applicable solely to new visas, not renewals, and never present visa holders. It should first apply within the subsequent upcoming lottery cycle.”

Whereas a number of sectors within the US use this system to carry expert employees into the nation, a few of its greatest beneficiaries are within the tech sector. In accordance with the US Citizen and Immigration Services, Amazon has essentially the most quantity (over 10,000) of employees on the H-1B visa. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google are additionally within the high ten record of employers that introduced over H-1B employees, with between 4,000 and 5,500 staff on the visa. Walmart, Intel, IBM and NVIDIA have a substantial variety of H-1B employees, as nicely. As TechCrunch has famous, Elon Musk, who was once near the president, came to visit to the US on the H-1B, as did Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.

Within the White House’s announcement, the administration defined that some employers have abused the H-1B visa to “artificially suppress wages,” making a disadvantageous marketplace for Individuals. “Data know-how (IT) companies specifically have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, considerably harming American employees in computer-related fields,” the announcement learn.

Trump has additionally signed an order for a brand new visa program known as the “Gold Card,” which the administration says will prioritize “the admission of aliens who will affirmatively profit the Nation, together with profitable entrepreneurs, traders, and businessmen and ladies.” It is an expedited immigrant visa program, accessible to anyone who can afford the “requisite reward” the federal government asks for. Particularly, the reward made to the US Division of Commerce have to be “$1 million for a person donating on his or her personal behalf and $2 million for a company or related entity donating on behalf of a person.”

Replace, September 21, 2025 10:11AM ET: This text has been up to date to mirror new info from White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt strolling again the administration’s preliminary declare that the price can be utilized per yr. Leavitt now says it won’t be annual.