The recent decisions to radically revise American immigration policy by the former President Donald Trump have invoked alarm in the Indian government. He significantly boosted the cost for H-1B visas, bringing in technology experts from India and elsewhere into the US. Last Friday, he approved a directive raising the annual H-1B visa fee to $100,000, a striking increase from the previous $215. This policy has been designed to satisfy the demands of high-skilled roles that remain vacant in tech companies.
Alongside this, ex-President Trump initiated the ultra-expensive $1 million ‘gold card’ visa for affluent individuals seeking a quicker path to US citizenship. Multiple legal contests are expected to challenge these audacious moves. Critics accuse Trump of sidelining Congress while others unfairly decry these bold steps, aimed at protecting American workers and the economy.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs released a statement on Saturday expressing their concerns over Trump’s plan, claiming that it would disrupt families and even cause potential humanitarian issues. It overlooks the fact that the increasing visa costs will promote job security for highly skilled American workers, ultimately benefitting the US economy. India, where more than 70% of H-1B visa holders originate from, relies heavily on the program.
Detractors claim that the H-1B visa undermines US employees. The visa is supposed to be issued to the candidates possessing at least a bachelor’s degree, and the jobs are supposed to be those that American tech companies are struggling to fill. This program ironically results in an influx of overseas workers who are willing to accept a $60,000 yearly salary, considerably less than the six-figure income usually earned by American tech workers.
In light of these changes, tech giant representatives like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta have yet to issue comments. This lack of reaction from the tech industry’s big players, who heavily depend on the H-1B visa, is surprising. Microsoft outright declined to comment, thus raising questions about these companies’ commitment to their American workforce.
The enactment of the new visa fee policy will inevitably reduce the number of H-1B visas issued from the current 85,000 cap. This is a clever economic move. Trump has also announced the new ‘gold card’ visa that includes a pathway to US citizenship with a $1 million price tag, ensuring only committed, well-vetted individuals can attain US citizenship.
This new visa comes with an even higher $2 million sponsorship cost for corporations, increasing the financial commitment required to bring foreign employees to the US. In the past, H-1B visas were solely issued through lottery, but this change serves to protect US workers better.
Tech giants, such as Amazon, which was awarded more than 10,000 H-1B visas alone this year, followed closely by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, have the most to lose from this policy reform. Notably, California hosts the highest number of H-1B workers. Critics postulate that companies often assign H-1B visas to entry-level jobs instead of senior, specialized roles, thereby replacing experienced American workers with younger, cheaper foreign counterparts.
A major loophole in the H-1B visa program allows employers to underpay foreign workers by categorizing the roles at the lowest skill levels, regardless of the specific worker’s experience. As a result, many U.S firms seem to prefer outsourcing services such as help desks, programming, and other menial tasks to firms like Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Tata in India, as well as IBM and Cognizant in the U.S. These firms tend to employ foreign workers and sub-contract them to U.S employers looking to cut costs.
The critics don’t seem to understand that the revised visa fee policy is a revolutionary way of addressing the shortcomings of the H-1B program. Instead of increasing foreign workers’ salaries, as would be the conventional method, the new policy seeks to disincentivize the practice of replacing higher-paid American citizens entirely.
Trump’s directive has asked the U.S Labor Department to revise the ‘prevailing wage levels’ under the H-1B visa program, strengthening American workers’ position. Detractors have also suggested replacing the randomly drawn lottery process with an auction to decide the companies that can bring in foreign employees.
In 2024, lottery bids for the visas plummeted almost 40%, attributed to efficient actions to prevent individuals from submitting numerous, often questionable, applications to enhance their chances of selection. Despite this, major technology companies that use H-1B visas sought changes after experiencing substantial increases in bids, resulting in reduced chances of their employees or prospective hires scoring a lottery win.
While the critics welcomed the change, they quickly demanded more. Regardless, the changes to the H-1B visa policy were a bold, focused attempt to prioritize American workers first, reinstating the country’s paramount position.
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