In a move that could adversely impact Indian professionals on visas in the US, President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will raise the fee for H1-B visas to a staggering USD 100,000 annually, the latest in the administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration.
White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the H1B non-immigrant visa programme is one of the “most abused visa” systems in the country’s current immigration system, and it is supposed to allow highly skilled labourers, who work in fields that Americans don’t work in, to come into the United States.
The Trump administration said that the $100,000 fee is aimed at ensuring that the people being brought into the country are “actually very highly skilled” and do not replace American workers.
The move is aimed at protecting American workers while ensuring that companies have a pathway to hire “truly extraordinary people” and bring them to the United States. Companies pay to sponsor H1B applicants.
“We need workers. We need workers. We need great workers, and this pretty much ensures that that’s what’s going to happen,” Trump said, as he signed the proclamation in the Oval Office in the presence of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Lutnick said that historically, the employment-based Green Card programme let in 281,000 people a year, and those people earned USD 66,000 a year on average, and were five times more likely to participate in assistance programmes of the government.
“So we were taking in the bottom quartile, below the average American. It was illogical, the only country in the world that was taking in the bottom quartile,” Lutnick said.
“We are going to stop doing that. We’re going to only take extraordinary people at the very top, instead of those trying to take jobs from Americans. They’re going to create businesses and create jobs for Americans. And this programme will raise more than USD 100 billion for the treasury of the United States,” he added.
Trump said that the country will use that amount to cut taxes and pay down debt. “We think it’s going to be very successful,” Trump said.
Lutnick added that the fee of USD 100,000 dollars will be charged annually.
The move is going to significantly impact Indian technology workers who are hired by tech companies and others on H1-B visas. The visas are valid for three years and can be renewed for another three years.
If a company sponsors an employee for the Green Card, the visas can be renewed till the permanent residency comes through. However, Indians on work visas in the US are caught in a decades-long wait for Green Cards and the new move could have an impact on whether they can continue to stay in the US if their companies decide not to pay the USD 100,000 fee annually now required to retain the visas.
“So the whole idea is, no more will these big tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government USD 100,000, then they have to pay the employee. So it’s just not economic. If you’re going to train somebody, you’re going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land, train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs. That’s the policy here. And all of the big companies are on board. We’ve spoken to them about,” Lutnick said.
Trump said that the tech companies “love it. They really love it. They really love it. They need it”. “The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in.”
Trump also signed an executive order entitled ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for foreigners of extraordinary ability who are committed to supporting the United States.
Under the Gold Card programme, individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, will get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card in the country.
“We’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars. The Gold Card will be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and companies will be able to keep some people they need. They need people of expertise, great expertise. I think it’s going to be a fantastic thing, and we’re going to take that money and we’re going to reduce taxes, we’re going to reduce debt,” Trump said.
When asked if the new USD 100,000 fee will apply to the H1-B visa holders already in the country, to renewals or to those applying for the first time from abroad, Lutnick said, “Renewals, first times, the company needs to decide. Is that person valuable enough to have USD 100,000 a year payment to the government, or they should head home and they should go hire an American.
“It can be a total of six years, so USD 100,000 a year. So either the person is very valuable to the company and America, or they’re going to depart and the company is going to hire an American. That’s the point of immigration – hire Americans and make sure the people coming in are the top, top people. Stop the nonsense of letting people just come into this country on these visas that were given away for free. The president is crystal clear. Valuable people only for America. Stop the nonsense,” Lutnick said.
On whether the technology CEOs, who hire foreign workers on H1-B visas, are concerned about the new move, Trump said they’re going to be very happy.
“Everyone’s going to be happy. And we’re going to be able to keep people in our country that are going to be very productive people. And in many cases, these companies are going to pay a lot of money for that, and they’re very happy about it,” he said.